“Should cultural venues funded by public money give priority to presenting French creators?”

Is France defending its artists well? Let's not hold our noses, let's be more direct: should museums, theaters, concert halls, or festivals, when they are funded by public money, prioritize presenting French artists? The question, long unthought of, taboo, or deemed contemptible, arose in the middle of summer in a report from the Ministry of Culture. It is gaining momentum as France is lacking both governance and money.

The subject was put on the table by Martin Bethenod, former director of the International Contemporary Art Fair, in a document entitled "The strengthening of the French artistic scene. Panorama and proposals", which Rachida Dati had commissioned from him ( Le Monde, July 31).

Martin Bethenod dares to use the dirty word "quota" for works of art - "We must not be afraid of them," he writes. He proposes that those purchased each year by the National Centre for Plastic Arts should be 100% made in France (currently half) and that the Centre Pompidou should present 40% or 60% of exhibitions by artists from France - for the moment, the museum does what it wants.

Martin Bethenod extends to art what exists elsewhere: television channels and platforms must broadcast at least 40% French films and TV films, and radio stations must broadcast at least 40% French-language songs, half of which are new releases. The rapporteur nevertheless takes a cautious approach, writing that priority must be given to supporting the "French scene," which includes foreign artists living in France. He emphasizes this principle in order to dispel "any ideological suspicion."

To understand the cautionary language, we must return to the 1980s and the Minister of Culture, Jack Lang. France was then the home of global art. The money was there, as was a cultural dynamic, from which everyone benefited without worrying about the passports of the grant recipients. To take architecture alone, Jean Nouvel, Christian de Portzamparc, and Dominique Perrault saw their careers propelled, while foreigners built the Louvre Pyramid, the Bastille Opera, and the Arch of La Défense.

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