Controversy escalated from mid-summer. In a press release sent to representatives of its 268 museum agents on August 30, the city of Strasbourg detailed its plan to reduce the opening hours of cultural institutions. From October 3, nine museums will be closed two days a week, compared to the current one day. Mondays and Wednesdays are for the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MAMCS), the Tommy Ungerer Museum, the Œuvre Notre-Dame Museum and the Historical Museum; Tuesdays and Thursdays for the Museum of Archeology, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Decorative Arts and the Museum of Alsace.
The latter will also keep their doors closed between 13-14 hours in order to simplify the organization of staff lunch breaks. “The current crisis situation calls on the communities at the national level to take significant measures to adapt the public service”claims the municipality EELV, stating that these developments will allow visitors “Open all the museums on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which are traditionally very busy days. On weekdays, the public will have daily access to at least four of the network’s museums. »
The dispute arose in early August after an alert The Art Tribune By Catherine Jordi, Professor of Design and Applied Arts at the University of Strasbourg. This art historian was upset that he could not schedule his visits during the university year, as he does every summer. “I accompany 350 students to the museums of the city every year, for ten years. Museum management first told me that this project was going to be difficult, without any further explanation. Then I was notified that the whole year’s bookings had been cancelled“, he regrets. While 26% of visitors in Strasbourg are students or high school students, the teacher finds this way.” unclear “.
Online mediation
At first, the municipality got in touch, with the voice of Anne Mistler, the deputy mayor of arts and culture, stating that it was: “to think” aiming to avoid unexpected closures “In a tense situation in terms of personnel”.. But the debate over museum closures for the second day in a week quickly gained momentum in the Alsace capital. “Strasbourg, France’s seventh tourist destination, will be the first capital to adopt such a decision”were outraged former Strasbourg mayor and MEP Fabien Keller (Aguirre) and his colleague Bruno Studer (LREM), the deputy of the 3rd district of Strasbourg, authors of the online petition.
The weekend before the announcement of the new museum opening procedures, the streets and museums of Strasbourg were always packed. Coming from Florence, Italy, Barbara, Francesco, and their daughter Sarah closed their vacation week in Alsace with a visit to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MAMCS), one of the city’s eleven museums. “ So typical after villages wine roadwe discovered the other face of the region, its European capital enthuses Barbara.
An art-passionate family called itself “surprise” to know that the mayor of Strasbourg Zhanna Barseghyan intends to close museums two days a week. More than 671,000 visitors flock to admire their collections each year, which are available six days a week from 10:00am to 6:00pm, closing on Mondays or Tuesdays.
On this Saturday, August 27, the visitors, mostly foreigners, beneath the impressive ICRC boat seemed oblivious to the controversy. Some, however, noted that one of the upstairs showrooms was accidentally closed between noon and 1 p.m. The museum was indeed temporarily understaffed in organizing lunch breaks for its agents; one of them was assigned the same morning at the last minute to the Tommy Ungerer Museum, threatening to close the doors due to lack of staff… At MAMCS, about Fifteen agents are needed to operate the entire 4,700 m² exhibition space for permanent and temporary collections.
Reopening of the Zoological Museum
“ Staffing restrictions The Strasbourg museums are suddenly closing their rooms to allow their agents a three-quarter-hour lunch break. “, Book Laurence Siry, Deputy Secretary General of the CFDT in the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg. The representative of the trade union causes tense situations, especially among the employees of the funds, whose insufficient number may lead to the unexpected closing of the museum. These issues may be exacerbated with the reopening of the Zoological Museum in 2023, which has been closed for renovations since September 2019.
Katie, an abstract artist from Kaiserslautern, Germany, is more understanding with her three friends. The visitor who is full of praise for the collections” incredible of MAMCS, stresses the importance of keeping museums open on Saturdays and Sundays. But he notes that the finances of municipalities everywhere in Europe are being weakened by inflation and spending to maintain purchasing power. “ It’s just sad“, he concludes.
Museum staff should learn more about closing procedures at this 1 scheduled meetingeh in September at MAKS, by the municipality. Strasbourg has 268 museum staff, including 120 for reception and surveillance, and a reserve of around 80 temporary workers, students or retirees. Before entering into force, the project to change the hours of museums must be ratified by the technical committee on September 15 (CT:) and the Health, Safety and Working Conditions Committee (CHSCT:)
Source: Le Figaro
