PARIS (AP)-The Louvre Museum, the most visited museum in the world and a global symbol of art, beauty and endurance, remained closed on Monday-not by terrorism, but by its exhausted employees, who say the institution isThe collapse from the inside.
It was an almost unimaginable scene: the house for business Leonardo and Venshi Thousands of years are one of the greatest treasures of civilization – paralyzed by the people assigned to welcome the world in its exhibitions.
However, I felt greater than the work protest. The Louvre Museum has become a bellGlobal turmoilA palace of a sect that is steeped in its popularity. Since the tourist magnet from the gun to the Acropolis is scrambled to the crowds, the most famous museum in the world reaches its own account.
The automatic strike erupted during a routine internal meeting, as the attendees, ticket agents and security personnel refused to hold their positions in protest against the incurable crowds, its chronic holding and what the union called “cannot be defended.”
“that itHere LisaKevin Ward, 62, from Milwoki, one of the thousands of eager visitors in non -moving lines under the IM PEI glass pyramid. I even think it needs a holiday. ”
It is rare for the Louvre Museum to close its doors to the public. This happened during the war, during the epidemic, and in a handful of strikes – including automatic wandering over overcrowding in 2019 and safety fears in 2013. But I rarely felt like this: tourists who slow down in the arena, and memories on hand, with no clear explanation for the reason that the museum, without warning, did not stop simply.
This turmoil comes a few months after President Emmanuel Macron revealed for a decadePlans to save the Louvre MuseumAmong the problems that are now roaming – waterproofing, dangerous temperature fluctuations, old infrastructure, and the traffic on foot exceeding what the museum can deal with.
But for workers on Earth, this future is a promise to feel far away.
“We cannot wait for six years for help,” said Sarah Seifian of the CGT Culture Union. “Our teams are under pressure now. It is not only about art – it is about the people who protect it.”
In the midst of all, as is always the case, it isHere Lisa-A copy in the sixteenth century that attracts modern crowds closer to a meeting and a match for celebrities more than an artistic experience.
Nearly 20,000 people per day click on Salle Des états, the largest room in the museum, just to take a personal photo with a mysterious Leonardo Da Vinci woman behind the protective glass. The scene is often noisy, hiker, and so intense that many players barely get the masterpieces surrounding them – Titan’s works and virus that are greatly ignored.
“You don’t see a painting,” said Ji Hyun Park, 28, who flew from Seoul to Paris. “You see phones. You see the elbows. You feel heat. Then, you were pushed out.”
The Macron Renewal scheme, called “Lotvre New Renaissance”, is a treatment. Mona Lisa will finally get her custom room, and can be accessed through the specified entry ticket. A new entrance was also planned near the Sein River by 2031 to reduce pressure from the axis of the masculine pyramid.
Macron said in January: “The conditions of presentation, interpretation and presentation will be on what the Mona Lisa deserves,” Macron said in January.
The Louvre Museum welcomed 8.7 million visitors last year – more than twice that of its infrastructure to accommodate it. Even with the daily maximum of 30,000, the employees say the experiment has become a daily test of endurance, with a very few comfort, limited bathrooms and summer heat that the greenhouse effect in the pyramid is enlarged.
In a note leaked, Louvre Lawrence Des warned cars that parts of the building “are no longer closed”, and that temperature fluctuations are exposed to invaluable art, and even the basic needs of visitors – food, toilets, and banners – much lower than international standards. The experiment was simply described as a “physical ordeal”.
Seifian said: “What started as a scheduled monthly information session turned into a collective expression of discontent.” The conversations between workers and administration started at 10:30 am and continued in the afternoon. As of the afternoon, the museum remained closed.
It is expected that the full renewal plan – at an expected cost ranging between 700 and 800 million euros – is expected to be funded by ticket revenues, private donations, state funds and licensing fees from the Abu Dhabi branch in the Louvre. Ticket prices for tourists from the European Union are expected to rise later this year.
But workers say their needs are more urgent than any 10 -year plan.
Unlike other major sites in Paris, such asNotre Dame CathedralOr the Bombido Museum in a center, both of which are subject to government-backed restorations, the Louvre Museum is still on forgetfulness-not completely financed and does not work completely.
President Macron, who delivered his 2017 election letter at the Louvre Museum and presented it during2024 Paris OlympicsA safe and more modern museum promised at the end of the contract.
Until then, the greatest cultural treasure in France – and the crowds flowing to it – remains selected between cracks.
This story was originally shown on Fortune.com
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