EXCLUSIVE Removed from office by the Minister of Culture Fleur Pellerin, in unclear circumstances, Nicolas Bourriaud, the director of the National School of Fine Arts, has agreed to answer our questions.
How do you react to your eviction?
I do not understand this decision. I understand even less that the school is in excellent health, and we were truly extraordinary projects underway …
You say Fleur Pellerin has advanced “no factual argument “during your interview?
Yes, and I stand. There was no factual argument or during maintenance or in the press release.
Fleur Pellerin launched in this release, a call for applications, a kind of specifications for your successor, that sounds like a rebuke list against you …
Leading points Fleur Pellerin are not arguments and above all these points represent only the list of what have always been my priorities as Director of Fine Arts.
For example, how do you respond to the first point, the search for “a more collaborative governance”?
This more collaborative governance, we have put in place throughout the year, especially with a new important measure: it will now be a school teacher who will be director studies. It is a measure that changes everything, and that is truly at the service of the educational project.
What about the need based Fleur Pellerin of “greater social diversity of students?”
We are very attentive to this issue. First I want to say that I have appointed the first head of the African workshop in the school’s history, Pascale Tayou Marthine [visual artist from Cameroon, appointed to the Department of artistic practices, and who questions including issues of travel and movement, note].
In addition, the school offers social housing provisions to students who find themselves in situations of material need. It also removed the age limit for entry to school, which was in my opinion a rule quite outdated. This resulted in an exceptional influx of candidates, 1400 candidates this year! And at the same time, there have been many more foreigners than usual among the candidates, especially because they often have a different route, more atypical.
And regarding the “international reputation of the institution”, which according to the minister needs to be amplified, and “intensifying cooperation with other schools’ art “?
On this point, and I say this in all humility, I do not think you can do better than I did at this level! I could go on for hours! For example, joint training was launched with the University of Tokyo Geidai [or Tokyo University of the Arts, the oldest and most prestigious school of art and music in Japan, ed] and a program postgraduate common with Beijing, scheduled for 2016. We have about 85 partnership agreements with foreign art schools, including Buenos Aires Reykjavik. And new ones were planned.
And finally, what do you think the last point, “converging the school’s heritage and contemporary creation”?
This is the last straw! We were given the integration of collections at the heart of our priorities. The labeling process was launched including “Museum of France” for our heritage collections [Fleur Pellerin as welcome in the press release, note]. It was really the priority that was given.
According to the Chained Duck , this would have been a pretext to place Eric de Chassey, the husband of Anne Consigny, a friend of Julie Gayet …
I do not know the bottom of the case, but it is obvious that the decision of the Ministry is arbitrary. I fear that the revelations of Chained Duck be based, alas … I also wonder how the minister was able to launch an open call for projects July 3 and ended on 21! For 15 days to set up a project, all this is not very serious …
What are the reactions within the school? Are you supported?
Of course. Students have started a petition and many teachers support me. But we must say that it was finely played, since they have chosen to act in July, a time when students and teachers go on summer holiday … Monday, July 6th, I had to speak as every year staff to take stock of the past year. Given the circumstances, so I summoned the press to annual meeting.
What are your plans for the future?
The decree will be signed until Wednesday after the cabinet … Regarding my future projects, fortunately, I’m not part of the most needy. I know I can always go abroad and find a position elsewhere. But I especially want to say one important thing: it is imperative that this be the last time someone has to suffer this kind of arbitrary decision in our country. It’s really worthy of a banana republic! This is very disturbing, and that is a real democratic deficit.
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