00:00Now, after a brazen heist that made headlines across the world, the Louvre here in Paris has a new director.
00:08President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Christophe Laribault as the new head of the museum.
00:13The former director of the Versailles Palace will now be tasked with steering the world-renowned museum out of the
00:19crisis,
00:20which saw invaluable French crown jewels stolen.
00:24Well, International Affairs Editor Angela Diffley is on set with me to tell us a bit more.
00:28Good to see you, Angela.
00:30Hi.
00:30So this new director, he has a lot on his plate.
00:32He doesn't have the easiest job in the world now, does he?
00:35No, he doesn't.
00:37The Louvre has had a run of, some might say, bad luck.
00:42Some might say it was clear that there were problems and they were rudely exposed.
00:48So we've covered them all here on France 24, October the 19th.
00:53That daylight robbery, that glamorous heist, but, you know, very serious as well.
01:00Eighty-eight million euros worth of artefacts stolen.
01:06The crown jewels of France and the diamond and emerald crown that Napoleon gave to his wife.
01:14These are still out there.
01:15They have not been recovered, these jewels, although there are four suspects now that have been arrested.
01:19There was also a burst pipe and water leaks.
01:23They damaged a 19th century ceiling painting.
01:27They also damaged ancient books as well.
01:32There was as well uncovered a ticket fraud operation in the Louvre, which had been going on for about a
01:38decade, apparently, allegedly involving some staff members and had lost about 10 million pounds in revenue, 10 million euros in
01:47revenue for the Louvre over that time as well.
01:50And there is a long-standing problem within many French cultural institutions over staff relations.
01:57There is a problem with strikes.
01:59It's a job that is not especially well paid.
02:02And there were strikes recently.
02:05The staff say the museum is understaffed.
02:08And, of course, it is very, very crowded.
02:10So this new director will have to sort out the clear security problem, modernise, which is, you know, a building
02:19which is, you know, its roots in the 13th century.
02:22This dates back to medieval times with frequent layers of modernisation afterwards.
02:27The building is at once a glory of France, but it also is a major problem in terms of upkeep.
02:35It costs an awful lot and also steer the museum through a very important new project of modernisation that Emmanuel
02:44Macron wants.
02:45So tell us more about the man that is Christophe Laribault.
02:49Why has he been chosen by Emmanuel Macron?
02:52Yes, so Laurence Descartes yesterday resigned.
02:55She was the previous director.
02:57And once the museum heist happened, she immediately offered her resignation.
03:01Macron refused, partly because the political situation was simply so volatile at the time.
03:06It would have been unhelpful to have such a major figure resigning.
03:11And so, in a sense, she was left there to absorb the further crises afterwards and to allow a new
03:18start under this new director.
03:22It's hard to overstate how important the Louvre is in France.
03:24You know, France around the world is known.
03:26It is a beacon of culture.
03:29And the Louvre is one of its most important buildings.
03:32It's the most visited museum in the world.
03:358.7 million visitors every year.
03:38It is an enormously important asset in France.
03:40And Christophe Laribault comes from Versailles, which is of similar standing in the French cultural world.
03:49He has a good relationship as well and a good record in attracting benefactors, because up ahead is this enormous
03:56project to modernize the Louvre.
03:58And while he was at Versailles, he had a very good record at attracting particularly American benefactors, people around the
04:04world who love France, who love its beautiful buildings and cultural assets, and are keen to pay also very many
04:10French benefactors.
04:12And, of course, Emmanuel Macron, after the success of Notre Dame, completed in record time, is very keen to have
04:19a major overhaul of the Louvre.
04:22It's called the Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance.
04:24It is a major overhaul, and it will include having a new entrance near the Seine.
04:30It will include more underground buildings, a dedicated building for the Mona Lisa, because so many tourists go straight to
04:37the Mona Lisa, and that leads to overcrowding problems.
04:40For Macron, it's very important.
04:42This is his legacy.
04:43Much of his legislative legacy is slowly being eroded amongst the chaos of the French parliament that doesn't have a
04:51majority.
04:52And he is very keen to leave something very concrete behind him, like Notre Dame.
04:57For Rashida Dati, who is the culture minister, under whose tenure many of these disasters unfolded, it is something of
05:07a problem.
05:07She is hoping to be elected mayor of Paris in a couple of weeks and is constantly being asked why
05:14she did not see what might happen up ahead with the Louvre.
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