Chris Dercon will take control of the Grand Palais in Paris



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At the Volksbühne in Berlin, Dercon was very controversial and tossed the towel after only eight months of frustration: inexperienced with the direction of the theater, overwhelmed by the design of the program and left largely by the Berlin cultural policy until 2011 the Munich House of Art was very successful. But as the French and Belgian media already said Wednesday afternoon, he should have a new representative job from January 2019. In a press release of the Ministry of Culture, Dercon announced that the post would "taken into account as part of the transformation of the institution, in a changing museum sector and responsible for implementing the master plan for the restoration, modernization and development of the Grand Palais". Dercon will give the new Grand Palais a "unique place in France and in the world" with his experience as "head of prestigious international institutions, through his vision of art and the role of cultural institutions in the 20th century. century".

General renovation planned before the Olympics

The new French Minister of Culture, Franck Riester, in office since October, has entrusted Chris Dercon with a great responsibility in the complete renovation of the Grand Palais in the years to come until 2023, in time for the Olympic Games. In addition to the expansion of the exhibition space, a shopping street for the art trade and fashion boutiques will be built, which has already aroused controversy because of high costs . Since it was built about 120 years ago, the Grand Palace has never been renovated, which is a challenge considering its 70,000 square meter area.

Michael Jackson will soon be honored

The exhibition building located between the Seine and the Champs-Elysees was built in 1900 for the Universal Exhibition of the time. At the same time, the institution belongs to the national museums and is one of the most important places for all kinds of events: temporary exhibitions, but also fashion shows and art fairs. Currently, 150 works by Joan Miró and images of the eighteenth century Venetian are to see. From November 23, the musical work of Michael Jackson is in the spotlight. These popular topics attract around two million visitors each year to the Grand Palais. So we see that Chris Dercon finds the area of ​​activity that suits him, because he declares himself declared for the "fusion" of the fine arts, theater, dance and performance and engages in contemporary domains. In Berlin, he was criticized by politicians and cultural workers for making the Volksbühne "event stand". This accusation will certainly not hit Paris, the Grand Palais is indeed a place of this kind, but well equipped financially and at the level of a cosmopolitan city. In 2024, at the Olympic Games, the Grand Palais will play a special role as a cultural site.

Anfeindungen on the Spree

The art historian Dercon went to London after his stay in Munich, where he directed the Tate Gallery of Modern Art in London from 2011 to 2016. From there, the l & # 39; Former cultural senator and music director of Berlin, Tim Renner (SPD) brought him to the Spree in April 2015, where he became director of Volksbühne from the summer of 2017 to succeed Frank Castorf. Even during his preparation, the hostility, even in the press, did not end. Large sections of the former Volksbühne ensemble opposed it, as Dercon announced that he wanted to do without tribal actors in order to make the house more flexible for new forms. d & # 39; s.

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