The former director of Maison d'Ailleurs in Yverdon-les-Bains, Marc Atallah, in September 2024.Keystone
In an interview published Thursday on blick.ch and in The illustratedthe former director of the science fiction museum defends his record and believes he was “betrayed” by his former employer.
28.11.2024, 09:0228.11.2024, 09:36
Marc Atallah refuses to be the “scapegoat” for the difficulties encountered by the Maison d’Ailleurs in Yverdon (VD), from which he resigned last fall. He was criticized by the Foundation Board and the City of Yverdon for not having managed to anticipate and resolve the difficulties of the museum, which is going through a financial and identity crisis.
Marc Atallah affirms to our colleagues that Blick and of The Illustrated not understanding “this determination” to make him appear as “the villain of the story”. While the Foundation Board criticizes him for not having reported certain information, in particular on the budget overrun of his last exhibition, he assures that he has always announced “scrupulously every news, good or bad.”
He adds that his job was to “expose the facts and propose different solutions” to the Foundation Board. It was the latter who decided the path to follow and “I applied it, regardless of my personal opinion,” he explains.
Yverdon “hurts his culture”
The fall in attendance at the museum with the quality of the exhibitions considered “declining” was also highlighted by the Foundation Board.
“I took over a museum that had an average of 10,000 visitors per year between 2005 and 2010, and I brought it to 27,000 visitors in the best year”
Marc Atallah
The decline in recent years to around 13,500 visitors is, according to him, not linked solely to the exhibitions. He notes that several local cultural institutions are “suffering or declining in attendance.” According to him, “Yverdon is hurt by its culture and recognizing this would allow us to think about solutions.”
He assures that the Foundation Board has never criticized him for the quality of his exhibitions. If some people considered them less good, “why never brought it back to me?”, he asks.
Feeling of betrayal
Marc Atallah also talks about his wife's commitment to running the museum store.
“The only authority capable of hiring or dismissing employees is the Foundation Board (…). To suggest that it was only put there because of me is disgusting.”
Marc Atallah
Overall, Marc Atallah says he questions “this desire to want to hold me responsible for everything, even though the foundation was my employer.” He refuses to “be the scapegoat” and believes that the Foundation Board and the City of Yverdon, by making him “wear the hat”, have “betrayed” him. (mbr/ats)
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