Art historian: the Louvre needs refurbishment, not Macron's costly expansion

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Stuart Norval is pleased to welcome Didier RYKNER, Art Historian, Investigative Journalist and Founder / Editor in Chief of La Tribune de l’Art. Offering a forceful institutional critique of the Louvre's current priorities, Didier Rykner argues that the museum's principal challenge is not a lack of resources, but a misallocation of them. While acknowledging that security investments are both necessary and inevitable, he contends that the greater threat to the Louvre lies in the deterioration of its historic fabric and the diversion of funding towards what he regards as an unnecessary, politically driven architectural expansion. Rykner makes a broader argument about cultural governance: world-class museums should prioritise the preservation of their collections, buildings and visitor experience over landmark prestige projects. His analysis ultimately frames the debate as one of stewardship, questioning whether cultural institutions should be guided primarily by practical conservation needs or by ambitious political visions.