2023-12-20 15:55:45
At 84, the former Minister of Culture is returning for a fourth term in this strategic and diplomatic post. Few in number, its competitors have hardly overshadowed it.
The news was expected, here it is confirmed: the indestructible Jack Lang is reappointed at the head of the Arab World Institute (IMA) this Wednesday, December 20. At 84, the former Minister of Culture, in office since January 2013, retains his position for a fourth term, confirming the confidence placed in him by Emmanuel Macron. Jack Lang had been acting president since March – the official end of his previous term. During a press conference in February, he cleverly entered into the future of the establishment by announcing a new wave of acquisitions and a renovation of the museum, while joking about his longevity at the head of the IMA : “Do not pronounce my eulogy before the time! I’m alive, fully alive, he said teasingly. We would not be here if a certain Minister of Culture who bears my name had not proposed, in 1981, the idea of a museum of the Arab world to François Mitterrand.
A recognized skill
The competition for this position – which requires both political and cultural skills and a solid network in Arab countries – was rather feverish: the other candidates could be counted on the tips of their fingers. The former Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, 76, hoped for a moment for the position before joining other functions in Qatar or Lebanon in the face of resistance from Jack Lang. Just like the former French ambassador to Algeria, François Gouyette, who also ran for the head of the IMA, struggling to assert himself in the Lang-Le Drian duel. According to Jeune Afrique, other candidates have also made themselves known: Karim Amellal, ambassador and interministerial delegate to the Mediterranean, as well as Bariza Khiari, ex-senator and former president of the Institute of Islamic Cultures (ICI), without however overshadow Jack Lang.
His immutability in this strategic and diplomatic post is due to several factors. His skill first. About the exhibition What Palestine brings to the world, historian and poet Elias Sanbar was full of praise on France Inter about Mang who asked him to design the exhibition. “This major event, unique in the world, this duration (7 months of exhibition) would not have been possible without the commitment of Jack Lang. He didn’t stop worrying about it for a single day. He has just extended it by one month and two weeks. Culture is the possibility of saying: “There is something other than dying”. I don’t believe that anyone else would have given us this possibility and this consistency: he is there every day at all the demonstrations.
An ambiguous policy
But Jack Lang’s longevity also perhaps reflects the particular status of the institution, a private law foundation, not affected by the age limits of the public sector. Labeled a French museum in 2011, the IMA is supported by a foundation created in the early 1980s by France and the States of the Arab League. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the main financier but recently, the Ministry of Culture has added 6 million euros to its budget.
In fact, it is difficult not to point out the ambiguity of current policy, in a context where the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak wishes to renew the pool of directors of institutions in France. Since December, she has been defending “la Relève”, a system aimed at recruiting new blood at the head of cultural places. It is true that the profession has become more complex than before: you have to know how to manage artistic projects within increasingly tight budgets. Lang’s longevity at the IMA is reminiscent of that of Catherine Pgard, 69, at the head of the Palace of Versailles, also an interim position since the end of her mandate.
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