Subscriber content

Interview with Mathilde Augé, Executive Director of WMF France

Bénédicte Bonnet Saint-Georges Wednesday 13 September 2023 All the versions of this article: English , français

: 1. Mathilde Augé, directrice exécutive du WMF France
Photo : WMF; See the image in its page

The World Monument Fund is an international organisation dedicated to safeguarding architecture and heritage. It had an affiliate office in France that took part in numerous restoration projects throughout the country. After closing its office in 2017, it is returning to Paris in 2023. Interview with Mathilde Augé Executive Director of WMF France (ill.1).

Can you tell us about your career path?

After a preparatory class, I entered the École Normale Supérieure and chose to study art history. I became interested in artistic relations between Paris and Istanbul after the Second World War. Then I decided to go to business school and entered HEC. Once I’d finished my studies, I started working for various publishing houses, before joining the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) in New York. For six years, I organised conferences, devised a digital strategy for cultural programming, and set up temporary exhibitions on a wide variety of subjects related to French culture, the last of which was devoted to Jean-Jacques Sempé. I joined the World Monument Fund on 1 April this year and am now back in France. Our offices are currently housed at the Sauvegarde de l’art français, in the ninth arrondissement of Paris, and I’m lucky enough to be working under a masterpiece by Simon Vouet, Aurore et Céphale.

Can you explain why the WMF’s Paris office, which opened in 1989, closed in 2017 and why the decision was taken to reopen it in 2023?

The closure of the office in 2017 came at a time of global reorganisation of the organisation, following a change in management and in a more complicated economic context. Nevertheless, France plays an essential role in the world of heritage, so it was difficult for the WMF not to have an office in Paris. First of all, it is a country with a particularly rich heritage, for which we have worked by funding around thirty projects; in addition, we have partnerships around the world with institutions and experts based in France, such as Unesco and Icomos. So it was important to relaunch our subsidiary in France. The arrival in 2019 of a new president, Bénédicte de Montlaur - who is French by the way - has given us a new impetus, while the generous donation of €1,500,000 from the Florence Gould Foundation has enabled us to consolidate this new subsidiary. In total, nearly 7 million euros are currently being mobilised in the country. We have succeeded in putting together a prestigious Board of Directors, chaired by His Highness Prince Amyn Aga Khan, which brings together a wide range of personalities [1]. A scientific committee will be set up in the coming months.

: 2. Vue de la chapelle Saint-Joseph avant restauration
Paris, Église Saint-Eustache
Photo : WMF; See the image in its page

Heritage Days are an opportunity for you to highlight the projects undertaken in Île-de-France by the WMF.…

To access this content, you must subscribe to The Art Tribune. The advantages and conditions of this subscription, which will also allow you to support The Art Tribune, are described on the subscription page. If you would like to test the subscription, you can subscribe for one month (at €8) and if you don’t like it, you can send us an e-mail asking us to unsubscribe you (at least ten days before the next direct debit).

If you are already a subscriber, sign in using this form.