"Rachida Dati leaves a ministry struggling with budgetary cuts and badly shaken by the stunning theft of the French crown jewels from the Louvre in October. An ongoing parliamentary investigation has underlined the responsibility the ministry bears for the museum's security failings. One day before her own resignation, the Louvre's director Laurence des Cars stepped down."
"Pégard led the Château de Versailles for 13 years and has served as Macron's culture advisor since 2024. She has also worked as a political journalist-rising to editor of the political magazine Le Point -and a speechwriter for the former president Nicolas Sarkozy."
"Artists "are afraid of her", a columnist of the daily Le Monde, Michel Guerrin, wrote last year, adding that "never before has a minister so fiercely lambasted the cultural circles they are supposed to represent". "Now that she is gone, artists can finally breathe", wrote Marie Guichouz in Nouvel Observateur magazine."
Catherine Pégard has been appointed as France's new culture minister by President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. She replaces Rachida Dati, who is stepping down to pursue the Paris mayoral race in March municipal elections. Pégard brings extensive experience, having directed the Château de Versailles for 13 years and served as Macron's culture advisor since 2024. She previously worked as a political journalist, editor of Le Point magazine, and speechwriter for former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Dati's departure follows a tumultuous tenure marked by budgetary constraints and the October theft of French crown jewels from the Louvre, which exposed significant security failures. Parliamentary investigations have highlighted the ministry's responsibility for these lapses. The Louvre's director also resigned shortly before Dati. Despite 25 months in office surviving four government reshuffles, Dati accomplished little, with critics noting inefficiency and controversial stalled legislation.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]