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- Marie Lavandier, new president of the
Centre des Monuments Nationaux
Photo : Musée du Louvre-Lens/Gautier Deblonde - See the image in its page
"She has a solar and federating energy that raises" said the Minister of Culture, without laughing, quoted by Le Figaro, which revealed the news of Marie Lavandier’s nomination as president of the Centre des monuments nationaux (CMN). Who raises what? She did not specify. Certainly not the general enthusiasm, as this promotion leaves a large number of professionals and connoisseurs of the museum and heritage world with doubts.
Let us remember that the CMN brings together more than a hundred monuments, from the most important to the most confidential. It is therefore not an insignificant institution, and one could expect the arrival of an indisputable personality in this position, especially after the presidency of Philippe Bélaval, who, after twelve years, has left a rather positive record, having in particular carried out numerous restoration projects and led a real acquisitions policy.
It should be noted that, for the first time, a curator has been appointed to this post, rather than a member of the Conseil d’État. But this is obviously not enough. In charge of the creation of the Musée du Président-Jacques-Chirac in Sarran, having passed through the museums of Nice where it would be difficult to remember her work (she only stayed there for two years), having taken over the direction of the C2RMF, where her directorship does not seem to have left lasting memories, Marie Lavandier was then appointed head of the Musée du Louvre-Lens. A position that certainly suited her very well: two exhibitions a year, generalist, geared towards the general public, perfectly suited her profile, which is very much oriented towards "public management". His first statements to Le Monde leave one wondering: "The CMN responds to the challenges of our time", "those of global warming that will change the conditions for visiting monuments" (is that so?), "the transformation of tourism" (we would like to know what that is) and "the social challenges of living together" (!).
Newspeak at its most unbearable.
After a few judicious appointments of indisputable personalities to head the great Parisian museums, the absurdity of French-style appointees, characterised by the absence of clear rules, where nominations are made in an obscure manner in the ministerial cabinets or directly at the Élysée Palace, is once again showing its limits. There is a real need to put in place unquestionable processes, with a call for candidates, the preparation of projects by the applicants, and a jury of indisputable personalities, which would result in transparent appointments, perhaps not always ideal, but which would in any case be less controversial.
We are sometimes wrong, and we would be very happy to report that our fears about Marie Lavandier have turned out to be unfounded. We will therefore follow the CMN’s projects closely and will not fail to highlight their successes, if any. Its first challenge will be the opening of the Cité internationale de la langue française in Villers-Cotterêts, for which it will have to show great imagination to make it a success in terms of attendance. On this point at least, we cannot blame him for failing. No one is bound to do the impossible.