Tuesday, in Bozouls, the Department brought together the driving forces of the worlds of culture and heritage to discuss the future of departmental museums and the traveling exhibitions which will result from this change. The opportunity also for Arnaud Viala to reaffirm his support, and not just financial, for cultural actors.
In front of more than 250 actors from the world of culture and Aveyron heritage, Tuesday, in Bozouls, Arnaud Viala, the president of the Department, spoke of his ambitions for these areas in a speech where the policy of departmental museums was mentioned, or even the future of the palace episcopal and its destination.
“Our ambition is to weave the thread between past and future, between transmission and transformation. Invent without betraying, open without dispersing. Bring to life, move, share our heritage with as many people as possible. And give the department a new cultural, attractive, lively, popular dimension. This is the horizon that guides us”explained Arnaud Viala, particularly with regard to the new museum policy initiated several months ago.
If the episode of the closure of the Salles-la-Source museum has caused a lot of ink to flow, the fact remains “that the accumulated delay made it impossible to make do with simple adjustments. And here, I am not trying to point the finger at the fault of anyone in particular, it is more structuralpleads the president of the Department. But we stopped at the analysis, and honestly, it was difficult […] Our idea is not at all to give up anything. On the contrary, it is about giving new life to these collections! For months, the culture commission and all the teams have been thinking about this challenge. We want to break the fixed model of static museums and propose functioning in concentric circles, with truly departmental cultural animation. Instead of centralizing everything in one or two places, we will now move the works, the exhibitions, to go directly to meet the public throughout the territory. This way, there is no longer any need to have a large, single museum that struggles to attract people.”.
“Regular departmental meetings”
“We no longer want to place the main focus on Salles-la-Source or Espalion. We wish, on the one hand, to offer traveling exhibitions which will travel to different places, working with local partners – municipalities, associations, tourist offices”, explains Arnaud Viala in detail.
From now on, interested territories will be able to contact the Department to receive the collections which until now were stored in Salles-la-Source or Espalion. They will thus circulate according to an established scenography, “all while keeping regular departmental meetings, every two years for example, with a major thematic exhibition”, underlines the president.
Secondly, he looked at the archaeological space of Montrozier: “We keep it and we really care about its specificity. It is the heart of the system for departmental archeology. And we will even strengthen its role […] This multi-faceted service. He regularly makes major discoveries. But it also has this crucial role of transmission. When a major discovery occurs, he participates in mediation, in popularization: he opens up to the public, discovers, explains.”
“We are committed to going all the way”
More generally, “ we have chosen to maintain our efforts at a high level, unlike other departments which restrict or cut their budget in times of tension, insists Arnaud Viala. Concretely, this translates into a budget of 10.5 million euros, while many are tempted to slow down or divert the credits to other areas. It was a firm political decision from the start of the mandate and we are committed to following through, even in complicated times. “.
Symbol of these investments of the Department, the episcopal palace in Rodez “is a living heritage: we give back to an exceptional place a central functionassures the president of the Department. Its renovation is advanced, even if it is a long and ambitious project. Ultimately, the site will become a shared space: it will host major exhibitions, shows, artists in residence, but also school audiences, workshops, conferences… It will be a real place of cultural life for everyone, not just a frozen monument. The idea is that each resident can make this place their own, make it a landmark”.
Moreover, the next major meeting of cultural actors, scheduled for 2027, should be held in Rodez. And guests will be able to discover the future face of the episcopal palace.
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