- Rachida Dati at the conference
press release of the States General
religious heritage,
November 18, 2024
Photo : Didier Rykner
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See the image on his page
While everyone anxiously awaits the appointment of a new Prime Minister and therefore a new government, The Art Tribune is primarily interested, obviously, in the Ministry of Culture.
We have not spared criticism of Rachida Dati, as proven by some of the articles we have devoted to her. We regret the lack of real protection of the Pavillon des Sources of the Institut Curie, as well as the demolitions which took place at the Convent of the Visitation, and we firmly fight the replacement of the stained glass windows of Notre-Dame which is one of the rare to defend, particularly within the ministry; we also do not agree with his idea of charging entry to Notre-Dame Cathedral…
But this is undoubtedly the first time since Jack Lang that a Minister of Culture has taken head-on not only the question of the protection of historical monuments but also that of their financing. Not being a specialist in these issues, she has also been able to surround herself with a particularly efficient and competent firm, which is an essential prerequisite, and is helped by a good general director of heritage and architecture.
For financing, the budget, as it was planned (but which will have to be negotiated again due to the fall of the government), was very favorable to the heritage mission. The minister fought to maintain a budget that is all the more essential since the trades who worked on Notre-Dame will now have to find other projects. Furthermore, if the idea of charging for entry to the cathedral does not seem appropriate to us, this was an opportunity to debate this question and allowed us to put forward our two ideas – tourist tax and percentage stakes from the Française des Jeux (see the article) – and thus make them progress.
But money isn't everything. We can only protect what still exists: the effective protection of historic monuments is perhaps an even more fundamental aspect of the question. And on this one, Rachida Dati has undoubtedly also taken the problem head on.
She did not just move forward on certain issues that were blocked, such as that of the drama conservatory (see the article). She understood that a more ambitious policy was needed which avoided permanent psychodramas around this or that monument, this or that building. Heritage protection must be conceived as a whole, particularly in a city like Paris, which is notoriously under-protected, having today only two remarkable heritage sites.
Some will say that this attention paid to Paris is for political reasons, Rachida Dati wishing to run for the post of mayor. So what? That a Minister of Culture is interested in its protection is a normal thing, and what is not normal is the indifference of previous ministers to one of the most important historic cities in the world. And if heritage is now considered an important political issue, we can only welcome it.
We have long campaigned for the creation of new remarkable heritage sites in Paris. That the island of Saint-Louis, the Latin Quarter, the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, Montmartre, the Butte-aux-Cailles, the New Athens and many other districts are less protected than most cities French is a scandal that has lasted too long. However, this file is moving forward in a way we never imagined it could move forward, as we will see in a future article.
For all these reasons, and because the Ministry of Culture needs stability, it is desirable that the actions started be continued, which would be the case if the minister were reappointed. We therefore hope so, which will obviously not prevent us from continuing to firmly fight the replacement of the stained glass windows of Notre-Dame and to oppose all actions harmful to heritage, wherever they come from.
