Mr. Reeve, Mr. President of the Regional Council, dear Jean-Yves Le Drian, Mr. Mayor, dear Daniel Delaveau, Mr. Member of Parliament, dear Marcel Rogemont, elected ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Regional Director of Cultural Affairs, dear François Erlenbach, Mr. President of FRAC Bretagne, dear François Trèves, Ms. Director of FRAC Bretagne, dear Catherine Elkar, Dear Odile Decq, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Created almost thirty years ago by the State and the Regions, the Regional Contemporary Art Funds have become essential actors of our cultural life, going very quickly beyond their sole mission of acquiring contemporary works, to develop dissemination, publishing and pedagogical activities.

The FRAC Bretagne, created in 1981, was a forerunner of this evolution. It needed to be able to equip itself with a «second generation» building, as was the case for the Pays de Loire or Lorraine. The project, launched in 2002, is about to be completed.

This building, designed by Odile Decq and his team, next to the Aurélie Nemours "Alignment" and bordering the Beauregard Park, with its matt, monolithic exterior silhouette and skylight inside, is clearly a major architectural gesture. It is capable of new ambitions for an institution open to all forms of contemporary creation, through its rich collection of more than 4000 works, through the exhibitions that will take place there, through its publishing work, its conferences and meetings.

Endowed with this magnificent tool which will henceforth have the status of public institution of cultural cooperation, with human and financial resources strengthened, the FRAC of Brittany will be able more than ever to contribute to the animation of the network of diffusion of contemporary art in Brittany which, structured in association, is based on four art centers (Kerguéhennec in the Morbihan, the Quartier à Quimper, the Criée de Rennes, the Passerelle de Brest), art schools, the Archives de la critique d'art, cultural associations including, among others, those of Lannion and Vitré, and the university centres of Rennes and Brest.

With regard to the 23 FRAC in France, I would like to remind you of some figures that allow us to measure the strong commitment of the State.

Operating grants from the Ministry of Culture and Communication to FRAC have increased by 18% since 2007. The State was particularly keen to support the implementation of the new FRAC, called «second generation». This effort will be intensified in 2012 and 2013.

Over five years, the State will have contributed more than 28 million euros for the construction of these 6 new FRAC, contributing a third of the necessary investments.

Finally, a word about an event that concerns the entire contemporary art scene in France and all our public policies in this area: the inauguration in Paris, in a few weeks, of the new spaces of the Palais de Tokyo. Jean de Loisy, as you know, is committed to making the Palais de Tokyo a showcase for all FRAC. I see the end of an artificial opposition between Paris and the regions.

I would also like to remind you that the State will provide exceptional funding for the 30 years of FRAC in 2013, to the tune of 350,000 euros. I also asked the Centre National des Arts Plastiques to devote a third of its acquisition budgets to helping FRAC, to the tune of 700,000 euros.

This formidable network, which will soon be celebrating its thirtieth anniversary, is one of the strongest initiatives in the long term to decentralize our cultural policies. In a context of profound change, notably with the reform of art schools in the regions and our policy of labelling art centres, FRAC form autonomous institutions on which I want the State to be able both to remain particularly attentive while exercising a flexible guardianship - indispensable for the preservation of their own dynamics.

Today, we can take stock of what can be done thanks to the cross-community and state commitment. The new FRAC Bretagne will be able to write a new page, ambitious, policies for contemporary art in the regions.

Thank you.