Zaorálek will negotiate with the Centre Pompidou and UNESCO in France

Javier Pérez De La Fuente - Juan Antonio Marín Malavé, Centre Pompidou, Málaga, 2013

Prague - Strengthening cultural cooperation between the Czech Republic and France is one of the main goals of the two-day visit of Culture Minister Lubomír Zaorálek to France. Among other things, Zaorálek will meet with his French counterpart, discuss with the president of the Paris modern art gallery Centre Pompidou, and speak at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Ivana Awwadová from the Ministry of Culture's press department informed today about the minister's program on Wednesday and Thursday.

The purpose of the trip will be to discuss bilateral topics and strengthen cultural cooperation between the two countries, the ministry stated. On Wednesday, Zaorálek will meet with French Culture Minister Franck Riester and the director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre Mechtild Rössler and will deliver a speech at the general debate of the 40th session of the UNESCO General Conference.

The Czech Republic has 14 sites listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, including the historic center of Prague since 1992. According to commissioners of the organization who visited Prague in the spring, the Czech capital could be placed on the list of endangered monuments. They claim that the city and the Czech state do not sufficiently protect the values for which the historic part of Prague was inscribed on the World Heritage List.

On Thursday, Minister Zaorálek's agenda includes a visit to the Paris Centre Pompidou and a meeting with the museum's president Serge Lasvignes. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has repeatedly discussed the establishment of a branch of this famous cultural institution in the Czech Republic. Earlier this April, representatives of the Centre Pompidou and the National Gallery Prague (NGP) signed a memorandum of cooperation. This cooperation is expected to include the exchange of artworks, experts, and artists between the two galleries.

The leadership of the Paris institution joined a protest letter in May of directors of significant world museums and galleries who expressed disagreement with the dismissal of NGP director Jiří Fajt. According to a June statement from the acting director of the National Gallery Ivan Morávek, negotiations with the French side regarding cooperation are ongoing.