"A lot of people hate very long plane journeys. But I love them! They're a break from normal life. It's like time is suspended, you're almost back in time. With the Quai Branly Museum, I'm lucky enough to be able to go to places like the South Pacific, which take a good twenty hours to fly to!
Once there, I walk... And in Asia, that surprises everyone. Walking there is seen as a symbol of social regression. But for me, it's by putting one foot in front of the other that you get a feel for a city. While remaining a stranger to it. I like being close to the environment. It's very stimulating to take on a cultural and sensitive territory other than your own. It's above all the colour of a place that attracts me: its relationship with time, space, the senses, feelings, elegance... even in the simplest things. In Japan, for example, I felt this when, ten years ago, I was in charge of the Radio France orchestras. The troupe and I went on a twenty-day tour of a dozen different cities... just long enough to fall in love with the country! Today, I miss that time... That's the only drawback to the vast majority of my trips: they're very short.
I'm not looking for luxury to compensate. In fact, I'm not interested in legendary palaces... I prefer hotels located in the city centre, as close to life as possible. Medium-sized too, to avoid the miles of corridors, the queues to pay your bill, the two weddings that come between you and the lift... When it comes to restaurants, unfortunately, the height of refinement for my hosts is to take me to the local French address. I much prefer street restaurants, markets and their stalls of fresh produce. Getting close to authenticity and blending into the life of a local for a few moments... it's just a fantasy, I know! But I almost experienced it in Ecuador, in 2006... The director of the Cuenca museum is passionate about the revival of Indian traditions: "You seem like a nice person," he said to me, without even knowing me, "I'm going to offer you an exorcism session! For an hour, I found myself shirtless in the courtyard of the museum in front of a shaman who was spraying me with magic products... A real cultural immersion!
That's what travelling is all about! That's where my tastes, my way of being and my professional orientation come from. From my earliest travels in particular: I was still a child when my father took me hunting in Gabon and Angola... It seems to me that travel gives structure, and that its absence can only be terrible, can only make you smaller.
Eight dates
1956 Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
1982 Graduates from ÉNA. Magistrate at the Cour des Comptes.
1986-1989 Chairman of the Commission de vérification des comptes et de contrôle des établissements publics de la République du Sénégal.
1989 Managing Director of the Centre Georges Pompidou.
1993 Director of Music and Dance.
1995 Director of the private office of Philippe Douste-Blazy, then Minister of Culture.
1998 Chairman of the Ensemble intercontemporain. Appointed CEO of the musée du quai Branly.
2006 Presides over the Musée du Quai Branly, which opens its doors to the public.
