Protests in Paris delay Mona Lisa's smile
Source: Agencies |
December 3, 2009, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
PARIS'S top museums shut yesterday and the Mona Lisa kept her fans waiting as staff went on strike, protesting against cost cuts they see as a threat to priceless art.
Museums such as the Louvre, which houses the Mona Lisa at the heart of an art collection spanning millennia, help make France the world's top tourist destination. But staff say job cuts and lower subsidies are endangering this status. "The fewer staff there are, the greater the risk that the museum opens in conditions that are unacceptable in terms of security, be it for the artworks, visitors or building," said Didier Alaime, spokesman of the CGT union's culture section.
The Louvre opened more than an hour late after workers met under its famous glass pyramid to discuss strike options. The Musee d'Orsay, home to Edouard Manet's "Olympia," some of Vincent Van Gogh's most striking landscapes and room after room of sun-dappled Impressionist paintings, was closed for the day.
Its employees will meet this morning to decide on further action after talks with Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand yesterday.
The Rodin museum with its sculptures of entwined lovers and the futurist Centre Pompidou, which has spearheaded the protest movement and has been closed since last week, were also shut.
France's government is restructuring its culture sector as part of broader budget cuts.
Workers are particularly angered by a government plan to fill only half the vacancies left by retired officials.
Museums such as the Louvre, which houses the Mona Lisa at the heart of an art collection spanning millennia, help make France the world's top tourist destination. But staff say job cuts and lower subsidies are endangering this status. "The fewer staff there are, the greater the risk that the museum opens in conditions that are unacceptable in terms of security, be it for the artworks, visitors or building," said Didier Alaime, spokesman of the CGT union's culture section.
The Louvre opened more than an hour late after workers met under its famous glass pyramid to discuss strike options. The Musee d'Orsay, home to Edouard Manet's "Olympia," some of Vincent Van Gogh's most striking landscapes and room after room of sun-dappled Impressionist paintings, was closed for the day.
Its employees will meet this morning to decide on further action after talks with Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand yesterday.
The Rodin museum with its sculptures of entwined lovers and the futurist Centre Pompidou, which has spearheaded the protest movement and has been closed since last week, were also shut.
France's government is restructuring its culture sector as part of broader budget cuts.
Workers are particularly angered by a government plan to fill only half the vacancies left by retired officials.
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