On the proposal of Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture, the President of the Republic appointed Marie Lavandier as President of the National Monuments Centre.
With thirty years of successful experience in the management of cultural institutions, Marie Lavandier’s career reflects an attention to the public and the local roots, the demand for a policy of artistic and scientific excellence, the conduct of projects in the fields of restoration and heritage conservation on a national and international scale.
General curator of heritage, art historian and anthropologist, former student of the National School of Heritage, Marie Lavandier was curator of the Museum of Art and History of Dreux from 1993 to 2000, before participating in the creation of the museum of President Jacques Chirac, in Sarran en Corrèze, which she directed between 2000 and 2006. Deputy Director of Heritage and Collections at the Musée du Quai Branly from 2006 to 2010, she was then appointed head of the Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France until 2014, where she engaged, among others, the restoration site of the Sainte Anne de Léonard de Vinci, with the Louvre Museum, as well as that of the antechamber of the Grand Couvert of the Palace of Versailles. She was director of the museums of the city of Nice from 2014 to 2016, and also chaired the Council of ICCROM (International Centre for Studies for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, in Rome) from 2013 to 2017.
Director of the Louvre-Lens since September 2016, she distinguished herself there by the unifying energy with which she was able to make the museum a place of discovery and exchange for all audiences. By taking up the challenge of thematic exhibitions combining arts, disciplines and eras, she succeeds in conquering a large and diverse audience, especially in the mining basin. Convinced of the need to engage in public policies and territorial development, Marie Lavandier has taken up social issues such as the fight against poverty, exclusion and school dropout, and access to diplomas and employment.
Through her leadership of the Louvre-Lens, Marie Lavandier has helped transform the territory culturally and economically, thanks to a dynamic collaboration between the museum, its institutional partners and dozens of local actors.
Marie Lavandier will take up her duties on 2 May, for a five-year term. She will succeed Philippe Bélaval, whom Rima Abdul Malak welcomes for more than ten years as President of the CMN and more broadly his involvement to preserve and enhance our heritage for current and future generations. Philippe Bélaval’s mandates will have been marked by major innovations in the digital field, the development of artistic programming, the realization of major emblematic projects such as the restoration of the Hôtel de la Marine or the Château de Villers-Cotterêts.
Marie Lavandier will continue the dynamic initiated by Philippe Bélaval, and will initially lead the opening of the Cité internationale de la langue française in Villers-Cotterêts, which will mobilize the CMN in all its dimensions. It will pay particular attention to the policies of restoration, furniture, acquisition, accessibility of the more than 100 monuments of the CMN network. Marie Lavandier also intends to make the CMN a reference to respond to the changes of an eco-responsible tourism, contribute to citizenship and the national story and develop international cooperation.