French court blocks illegal museum openings in Perpignan, citing virus rules

A French court has ordered the mayor of the southern city of Perpignan to shut four museums he opened in protest at the closure of cultural venues due to Covid-19 restrictions.

French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National) party mayor of Perpignan Louis Aliot visits an exhibition at the Casa Pairal - Le Castillet museum after he decided to defy the French government's COVID-19 restrictions by opening four of the city's museums in Perpignan, France, February 9, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Minguez REUTERS - STRINGER

Louis Aliot, who is also the vice president of the far-right National Rally, reopened the museums last week, saying sufficient precautions could be taken to allow limited numbers to visit safely.

Seen as a sign of growing impatience over shutdown measures, the move was immediately contested in court by the central government and judges agreed that Aliot could not override "on his own" a national decree.

"We regret this decision, which will keep away our fellow citizens who are already suffering immensely during this health crisis," Aliot tweeted in response.

"Culture is a fundamental need that asks only to express itself."

Covid-19 : « les Perpignanais déçus par la réouverture suspendue de leurs musées »https://t.co/JuRrEgVO03 via @europe1

— Louis Aliot (@louis_aliot) February 15, 2021

Cultural venues and artists around the country are desperate to reopen, even partially, as museums, theatres, cinemas and restaurants have been closed since last October.

Aliot told the hearing Monday in nearby Montpellier that he had only opened four of his city's 15 or so museums including the Hyacinthe-Rigaud art museum, which had received around 2,000 visitors since last Tuesday.

The government lifted a broader nationwide lockdown in mid-December, but said museums and restaurants must stay closed as authorities try to bring down high Covid-19 infection rates.

🗣 Réouverture des musées : "Je me place dans une perspective de quelques jours. J'attends de voir les chiffres qui se stabilisent, la décrue."@R_Bachelot, ministre de la Culture

▶ #Les4V avec @Caroline_Roux pic.twitter.com/4aplO7G43W

— Info France 2 (@infofrance2) February 10, 2021

Last week, Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot reiterated that museums and monuments would be the first to reopen when Covid cases come under control,  criticizing what she called "purely political initiatives (which) do not defend the cause of culture", in reference to Aliot's opening of museums.

However, early this month, hundreds of artists, museum directors and others in the art community signed two petitions urging the government to allow museums to open.

"For an hour, a day, a week or a month -- let us reopen our doors, even if we have to shut them again in the case of another lockdown," they wrote.

UPDATE 16 February 11h10 UT: 

Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot has announced that "experiments" will be held in March and April (in Marseille and Paris) for "standing" concerts in order to find a model to allow for the reopening of venues. 

Speaking on the LCL television channel, the minister said she was "very optimistic for seated festivals (...). For standing shows, [however] it's more complicated, that's why I am conducting experiments." 

The "experiments" are intended to test what potenital formulae could be employed to restart cultural events that have been suspended due to the Covid pandemic.