The Louvre temporarily closed Monday due to about 50 protesting arts and culture students, who blocked its glass pyramid entrance, Le Figaro reports. Their action comes on the one-year anniversary of the brazen jewelry heist at the same museum, and follows a massive, nationwide protest on Saturday against social inequality, particularly visible in public schools, which spiraled into clashes with police and riots. These continued to a lesser degree Sunday evening.
The unrest has come on the eve of Art Basel Paris this week, sparking concerns about how it will impact a week of art events throughout the city. It is still too early to know whether protests will continue in the coming days, but locals are hopeful that a school holiday will help calm tensions.
In response, Art Basel issued a statement Sunday reassuring visitors that “the fair is proceeding as planned,” and “additional security personnel have been deployed to patrol the perimeter of the fair 24 hours a day.” This should supplement what the fair described as existing, “extensive protocols in place,” to ensure “safety of all guests, exhibitors and staff, as well as the security of the artworks.”
These include anti-ram barriers around the Grand Palais, and “thorough security screening protocols” for visitors. The fair also noted it works with a private security company along with Paris police where necessary.
Meanwhile, over the weekend, most art openings continued as planned, despite the added difficulty of getting around town due to closed streets, subways, and skirmishes between police and protesters. Many bystanders found themselves caught in the smoke from burning street barricades and tear gas. In response, several sources said that many visitors to the city this week are hiring cars, and a few have canceled hotel reservations.
Some art spaces temporarily closed their doors. The opening of Stan Douglas’s show Parallax at the Jeu de Paume on Sunday was canceled “out of precaution,” and because the surrounding Tuileries gardens were closed for the same reason, a museum spokesperson told ARTnews. Hauser & Wirth also closed their space in the 8th arrondissement on Saturday “as a precaution to protect the team, visitors and staff,” a representative said in an email.
At Marian Goodman Gallery in the Marais, where an exhibition opened with a new film by Bruce Nauman and Tacita Dean, most managed to make it “through the barricades,” despite breathing in tear gas to attend the opening dinner, where Dean thanked everyone for coming. Later that night, ARTnews saw adult male looters running out of shops on rue du Temple in the Marais, their arms full of merchandise.
Thousands of shops were looted in France on the sidelines and following protests that gathered over 500,000 people in city centers around the country, according to authorities. Public buildings, including a 19th-century town hall in Limoges, were badly burned, and nearly 2,400 people were arrested.
France’s interior minister admitted police had “lost control” of some areas and offered to resign. However, French President Emmanuel Macron refused his tender and has promised swift repercussions against looters, as well as a review of new security “operational methods.” Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced today that future curfews may be put in place where necessary, as soon as Monday night, to protect shops. More on those specifics is expected later today.
No damage was reportedly done to the Louvre, and protesters were not able to enter the glass pyramid. The museum’s website said that “due to student strikes, the museum is currently closed.” According to the AFP, the protesters at the Louvre, including students at art schools such as the associated École du Louvre, said they were angry at the violent response of police to protesters in recent weeks and wanted to show support for students and others demanding better conditions in public schools and the rising cost of living.
At the Sunday night opening of Jenny Holzer’s exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay, titled “J’ai Vue” (I Saw), guests discussed how they had experienced the protests, as well as the timeliness of Holzer’s show, which directly addresses global conflict. (Holzer was unwell and could not attend in person.) Artist Kendalle Getty said that the process of mounting her new exhibition titled “L’Identification Avec L’Autre” (Identification with the Other), on rue Bleue in the 9th arrondissement, had been a challenge amid weeks of disruptions from ongoing student protests. Now, she also fears that her large-scale works made of mirrors, inspired by the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, could be at risk of damage by looters.
Shauna Torres, who installed and organized Getty’s exhibit, said she got stuck in tear gas on Saturday, but is trying to keep a positive outlook. “We’re living in history, and sometimes that smells like fires and tear gas and champagne, but I’m just happy to be here,” she said.