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An artist’s CV is an act of faith. Louis-Philippe, an actor, lists fifteen productions, two regional awards, and one creative residency. Verifying all of that? You would have to call companies — three of which no longer exist — track down evening programmes, and cross-reference newspaper archives. The grant jury knows this, so doubt hangs over everyone, including the honest ones.
The cultural sector lives a cruel paradox: no field demands more proof of experience (grants, subsidies, admissions, professional memberships) and none is so poorly equipped to produce it.
Every artistic milestone can become verifiable proof
Imagine: the conservatory issues a badge for the completed programme. The festival, one for the official selection. The theatre company, one for the cast of its creation. The artist-run centre, one for the residency. The master, one for the craft passed on through mentorship. Each badge: identified issuer, sealed date, public criteria, verification with a single scan.
Louis-Philippe’s portfolio stops being an act of faith — it becomes a chain of verifiable recognitions, issued by the organizations themselves, that will survive even the closure of a company, because the proof no longer depends on the issuer still existing. For juries: hours of investigation saved, and fairness restored. For cultural organizations: every badge issued is a form of reach — your name travels, verifiable, across the careers you helped shape.
And cultural memory itself
There is something bigger than individual careers: a community’s memory. Who performed in which landmark production? Who founded what? The living heritage of our stages, our workshops, and our studios deserves a record that depends neither on a server nor on a box of archives. (Music enthusiasts in Quebec, stay tuned: something is in the works on exactly that front this autumn. 🎵)
The works endure. It is time for the careers to endure as well.