Rima Abdul Malak, from the Élysée to the Ministry of Culture

by time news

Roselyne Bachelot was flamboyant and from the seraglio, she collected electoral mandates and ministerial folding seats. She hands over the keys to Rue de Valois to Rima Abdul Malak, a Franco-Lebanese 30 years her junior, more discreet and with a more technocratic profile. Since December 2019, she has been the Élysée’s shadow woman on cultural issues. Many even considered her the “second minister of culture”.

→ PORTRAIT. Roselyne Bachelot, landed from the Ministry of Culture: a flamboyance prevented

“She is a woman who works a lot, knows her files well, and who above all has the support and the ear of the president, confides, relieved, a leader of a cultural institution. It is important to have in this position a woman who is strong in ministerial arbitrations, because we are a sector under perfusion. And, when the aid is going to stop, if the public does not return more to the rooms, we will need a very good strategy. »

Born in 1978 in Lebanon, Rima Abdul Malak arrived in France at the age of 10, and grew up in Lyon. After a degree in political science (at the Institute of Political Studies in Lyon) and a DESS in development and international cooperation (at the Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris), she began a career in humanitarian work. She works in particular for the Catholic Committee against Hunger and for Development (CCFD) in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. She also directed, from 2001 to 2007, the association Clowns sans frontières, which organizes shows for children in war zones.

Appreciated by the world of culture

It was in 2007 that she turned to culture. After a first experience at the current music center of the French Institute, she became cultural adviser to the town hall of Paris, first with Christophe Girard, then with the mayors Bertrand Delanoë and Anne Hidalgo. From 2014 to 2018, she headed the visual arts and performing arts department of the cultural service of the French Embassy in New York.

→ READ. An increased culture budget to “reinvent our cultural model”

In 2019, she became a consultant in cultural and international strategy, when Emmanuel Macron offered her to join the Élysée. Then criticized for her lack of interest in culture, the head of state appointed her to the post of culture and communication adviser, replacing Claudia Ferrazzi.

Appreciated in the world of culture, affable, cultured and curious about all forms of art, Rima Abdul Malak organizes the famous speech of the president to culture in the midst of a health crisis. He announces, to the surprise of the Ministry of Culture, the white year for intermittent workers, massive support for the sector and the operation of a “Cultural and learning summer”.

A lot of expectations for the media

Very close to the president, Rima Abdul Malak has supported Emmanuel Macron’s cultural projects for almost three years, such as the culture pass or the project for the International City of the French language at the Château de Villers-Cotterêts. She also played with all her weight in the appointment of many cultural personalities, such as Régine Hatchondo, who came from Arte, to the National Book Center.

During her mandate, the new minister, without elected experience, will be eagerly awaited by a cultural sector hit hard by the health crisis and its consequences. On communication issues, another part of her portfolio, she will be faced with major issues such as the future of public audiovisual financing, the merger between TF1 and M6, the management of neighboring rights or the rise in the price of paper. for the press.

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