THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC

Paris, August 1, 2007


Madam Minister,


The results of the presidential and legislative elections that have just taken place in our country show the extent of the wait for change shown by the French. By electing a large presidential majority in Parliament, they wanted to give the government, without any possible ambiguity, all the tools necessary for the success of its mission. This government, to which you belong, now has only one duty: to implement the presidential program and, beyond that, to reconcile our compatriots with political action by proving to it that it can still change things and give back to our country the control of his destiny.

Throughout the presidential campaign, commitments have been made within the scope of your ministerial responsibilities. It goes without saying that we expect you to hold them. The purpose of this letter of mission is to specify to you the points which, among these commitments, seem to us to be priorities and on which we ask you to obtain results quickly.


In 1959, Malraux defined the missions of the new Ministry of Cultural Affairs: "to make accessible the most important works of humanity, to ensure the widest audience to our cultural heritage and to encourage the creation of works of art and the spirit which enrich it ". Sign of their relevance and permanence, these missions are embodied half a century later in the new "programs" of the ministry (heritage, creation, transmission of knowledge).

After the Malraux era, a second political cycle led in the 1980s to a strong growth of the means of intervention of the ministry (budget, fiscal and regulatory assistance as the single price of the book), to support more and more artistic forms many, resulting in the regular launch of "major projects".

The achievements of this policy are considerable: an abundant artistic offer, museums and renovated monuments, a cinema rivaling international production. These successes should not, however, make us forget the shortcomings and the failures: a persistent imbalance between Paris and the regions, a policy of adding counters and projects to the detriment of the overall coherence, an insufficient taking into account of the publics, and especially the failure of the goal of cultural democratization. In fact, our cultural policy is one of the least redistributive of our country. Funded by the money of all, it benefits only a very small number.

The environment in which cultural policy is embedded is also changing. The digital revolution creates a possibility of almost infinite access to works of the mind, while seriously threatening the creation by infringements of copyright and neighboring rights that it allows. And the cultural industries are at the root of a growing share of wealth and employment.

The time for a new breath for our cultural policy has come, that of adapting the ambition of André Malraux in the 21st century. It is up to you to propose the ways and means of a new cultural policy, bold, concerned with promoting equal opportunities, ensuring artists a fair remuneration for their work, developing the creation and our cultural industries, to address all audiences.


Your first mission will be to implement the goal of cultural democratization. This has largely failed because it relied neither on the school nor on the media, and cultural policy has been more concerned with increasing the supply than with expanding audiences.

We hope that, with the Minister of National Education, you will make cultural and artistic education in schools a priority of your action by breaking down, for this, the barrier that has gradually emerged between the educational world. and the world of culture because of the separation of the two ministries. The school must provide all students with the fundamental cultural bases to know and love the history, language and literary and artistic heritage of our country - a condition for feeling part of the same nation - to live as a free man or woman, and to enjoy, throughout their lives, art, performance, literature, and all other forms of cultural practice. We believe that the creation of a compulsory history of art education can be the support of this cultural education that is so sorely lacking to our children today. You will also ensure that all children, throughout their schooling, can have an effective artistic practice, diversifying opportunities and promoting collective practices. Each school will have to establish