What's it like to run an art gallery in Roubaix, France's poorest town? Bruno Gaudichon, director of La Piscine, a museum of art and industry set in an old bath-house, reveals all
How did you get started?
When I was a boy, I wanted to be an archaeologist ? digging up all those hoards of hidden treasure. Then later, a wonderful modern-art professor in Poitiers, where I was a student, introduced me to les beaux-arts [fine arts] and that was it. Now I've been at it so long, I'm a dinosaur.
Is there such a thing as French art?
There is French culture, but I'm not sure there is anything so specific as French art. Is Picasso, who was Spanish but worked in France, French art? Or Chagall, who was Russian but worked in France and America?
How are the arts funded in France?
Most museums like La Piscine are funded mainly by public money ? in our case, local money ? but in recent years we have had to go further afield to regional and departmental authorities for things like temporary exhibitions, and to look for patrons. Of course, we never have enough money to realise all our dreams, but we have enough to work with, and recent tax incentives making donations more attractive means patrons are easier to find.
How receptive are the general public to what you do?
Very receptive. Roubaix has a population of 100,000, who are not natural museum visitors, but last year we had 230,000 visits. We do a lot to attract local people like workshops for youngsters, and they appreciate it.
What's the biggest threat to your area of the arts?
As always, money. Every year budgets get smaller, and the economic crisis hasn't helped. Our town, Roubaix, continues to support us, but I know other towns where the budgets have completely collapsed. Also the government has threatened to change the rule that any work of art acquired by a public collection cannot be sold. There were real fears that museums that were in difficulty would sell off their works. The proposal has been abandoned for the moment, but it's still a threat.
What's the standard of arts media coverage and criticism in France?
Very good. It can be hard to get a critic out of Paris, but on the whole, the level of criticism in the many specialist arts publications we have in France is excellent.
What's the biggest misconception about the arts in your country?
Although people are better informed than they were, I think they have difficulty understanding contemporary art. They look at a Picasso and think: "My child could have done that."
If someone was visiting your country and could only see one thing, what would it be?
Apart from La Piscine! Impossible to pick one thing. I could say go and see Mont Saint-Michel which is magnificent, but you cannot sum up the culture of a country from one thing. And if you could, it would be sad.
In your country, which of the arts is the most neglected?
Sculpture. We put on one exhibition of sculpture a year, and unless it's by someone well known, nobody comes. There is a definite hierarchy in the beaux-arts, with painting at the top.
Who's your tip for the top?
A magnificent painter called Marc Ronet, who is now in his 70s, is causing a bit of a stir and has, in the last two years, started to get noticed.
To you, what one thing sums up British culture?
Tate Modern is extraordinary ? it doesn't have the biggest or best collection in the world, but it's an intelligent mix of things and is full of surprises. For me, a very important thing about British culture is the lack of hierarchy. Everything is equal ? sculpture, painting, decorative arts, ceramics ? and that idea is exotic to us.
What British artists do you admire?
The Bloomsbury group: Roger Fry, Virginia Woolf and her artist sister Vanessa Bell. Also Walter Sickert. More recently, I would say David Hockney. I would love to arrange an exhibition of Hockney's swimming pool pictures in La Piscine ? but he never answers my letters!
Tell us a joke.
Picasso goes into a restaurant and at the end of the meal, the owner says he is so honoured the great artist has eaten there, dinner is on the house. But he adds: "Do you think you could just sign one of our menus?" Picasso signs the menu and gives it back, but the restaurant owner says: "Oh, please could you just add a little drawing?" Picasso replies: "I will pay for the dinner, but don't expect me to pay for the restaurant."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/mar/22/bruno-gaudichon-la-piscine
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