The Minister of Culture Rachida Dati hoped this Monday in Paris that a “place” dedicated to “great athletes from immigrant backgrounds” could see the light of day within the National Museum of the History of Immigration, in Paris .
“At the Porte Dorée Immigration Museum, one day we will perhaps be interested in having a place showing the link between immigration and sport, (dedicated to) all these great sportsmen from the immigration which have brought to the prestige, influence and greatness of France,” declared the minister during a press conference presenting the artistic projects dedicated to the Paris Olympics and Paralympics.
She hoped that the Olympic Games, “exceptional events for our country” this summer, could “irrigate all territories, for programming as close as possible to citizens”. “In these fractured moments, it is important that sport and culture come together”, to leave “a lasting material legacy of course, but also immaterial”, she said.
2,000 artistic projects
Asked about the budget for these projects called the Cultural Olympiad, Dominique Hervieu, the cultural director of Paris 2024, put it at 12.2 million euros for the Olympic organizing committee (Cojo). Added to this are “around twenty million euros” from the Ministry of Culture, at this stage, according to François Laurent, his Olympic delegate, including 9 million euros dedicated to “projects mainly in the territories” and the rest in credits allocated by the ministry’s operators and Drac.
The budget of the City of Paris is 8.5 million euros “to date”, that of the Region is around 3 million and that of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis is 2 million, according to their representatives, present at the press conference.
The Cultural Olympiad includes more than 2,000 artistic projects (works of art, dance, music, circus projects, fashion, theater etc.) in mainland France and in the overseas territories.
