Cultural institutions

Administrative bodies

Despite increasing support from the private sector, various ministries, such as those of National Education and of Culture and Communications, are ultimately responsible for the promotion of cultural activities. Local authorities, particularly those representing the major towns and cities, as well as a variety of associations also fund cultural activities. The importance attached to culture is reflected in the substantial increase in expenditure and personnel working in this field and the growth of related industries (music, publishing, broadcasting technologies). About one-third of the populace belong to some form of cultural association. Abroad, French culture is promoted through the work of counselors and attachés at embassies, visiting speakers, the Alliance Française, and the French lycées in major cities. French institutes provide lectures, language courses, and access to books and newspapers. There are also associations ensuring international links, such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Association of French Teachers, both headquartered in Paris.

Museums and monuments

Support and encouragement for cultural activities of all kinds are provided by a large number of museums, centres, and galleries, many of which are ultimately the responsibility of government ministries. In the provinces many museums traditionally reflecting their region’s activities have been expanded and renovated and, like those at Saint-Étienne and Strasbourg, have achieved national importance. It is in Paris, however, that the nation’s principal museums are to be found. The Louvre Museum, containing one of the world’s great art collections, was extensively remodeled at the end of the 20th century, with a notable addition of a dramatic steel-and-glass pyramid entrance. The Musée d’Orsay, created out of a former railway station, houses a fine, large collection of 19th- and early 20th-century art and artifacts, while the Georges Pompidou National Centre of Art and Culture, with its industrially inspired architecture, concentrates on the 20th century. The centre has an important library and media collection, and the square in front of it provides an open-air stage for jugglers, musicians, fire-eaters, and other street performers. Smaller museums, often containing substantial private collections, are numerous; three of particular interest are the Marmottan, Cognacq-Jay, and Orangerie. In addition to the larger museums, the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais regularly provide the setting for important exhibitions, and many of the national institutes offer French people the opportunity to appreciate works from different cultures. Particularly important in this respect are the Museum of the Arab World and the Museum of African and Oceanic Arts.

Since the 1950s there has been a national program for the conservation and renovation of important historic areas. The medieval vieux quartiers of Lyon have been tastefully restored, as has the 18th-century Place du Parlement in Bordeaux, for example. Many significant buildings have been saved by private funding, and government financial assistance is also available, usually on the condition that the property is opened to the public. In Paris the houses in the Marais district and on the Île Saint-Louis have had their original splendour restored, while around Montparnasse, for example, poor areas of 19th-century building have been bulldozed to make room for fashionable modern apartment blocks. Four structures in particular mark the later years of the 20th century: the entrance to the Louvre; the Bastille Opera; the Grand Arch in La Défense, a futuristic business district west of Paris; and the national library, Bibliothèque François Mitterrand, all of which received the strong support of Mitterrand as monuments to his presidency.