In a joint statement published in Le Monde, the directors of dozens of world-leading museums and galleries, including institutions such as Tate, MoMA, Rijksmuseum, and also the director of the National Gallery Prague, stood up for her. The signatories point out that museums are not impregnable vaults and must increasingly face growing brutality and acts of violence.
Global solidarity: Museums face common threats
The theft of eight valuable royal jewels from a permanent exhibition at the Louvre in Paris has sparked a wave of criticism. It focused mainly on the insufficient security of the exhibits. The director of the museum, Des Carsová, reacted to the situation by submitting her resignation, which was, however, rejected by the French Ministry of Culture. Her colleagues from the international museum scene decided to publicly support her.
“In these difficult moments and in this trial for the Louvre, we express our support to our colleagues and also to Director-President Laurence Des Cars,” the text says. At the same time, the directors of the museums highlighted the commitment with which Des Carsová, who will lead the Louvre from 2021, performs her function.
Museums are not vaults: Risks are everywhere
The signatories, which include prominent names such as Maria Balshawová (Tate, London), Christophe Cherix (MoMA, New York), Taco Dibbits (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) and Alicja Knastová (National Gallery Prague), emphasize that the current robbery is a manifestation of a wider problem. According to them, museums face increasingly violent acts and are not protected from the “brutality of the world”.
Their main message is clear: “Museums are not fortresses or vaults.” They warn that robberies like the one at the Louvre can happen in any institution, as these risks “hang over each one”.
Undermining the mission to share cultural heritage
According to the leaders of important exhibition institutions, incidents of this type threaten not only the material value, but especially the basic mission of museums: to share the common heritage of humanity with the widest possible audience. Far-right parties in France exploited the incident and called it another symbol of the decline of the French state, but international support for Des Cars puts this narrative in a different light.
Laurence des Cars is a renowned French art historian. Before taking the helm of the Louvre in 2021, she also led other important Parisian museums, such as the Musée d’Orsay, which focuses on the art of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
