Controversial plans to 'liven up' Paris' Notre-Dame's interior approved

A controversial redesign of the interior of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris has been approved by heritage authorities, as teams push ahead with the global restoration of the church, damaged by fire in 2019. However, the plans, including contemporary art installations have sparked criticism.

On 15 April 2019, the fire at Paris' Notre-Dame caused international emotion after the blaze brought its towering spire and roof crashing to the ground, wiping out centuries of priceless heritage central to French culture and history. Two years later, the work to make the cathedral safe finished. RFI visited the cathedral at that time. © REUTERS - SARAH MEYSSONNIE/RFI

Twenty experts from the National Heritage and Architecture Commission have voted in favour of the church's plans to rework the interior ahead of its planned reopening in 2024.

"The experts gave a favourable verdict on the interior renovation programme," the culture ministry told French news agency AFP late last week.

Church authorities are adamant the plans -- part of a wider rebuilding project following a devastating fire in 2019 -- are not revolutionary and will simply offer visitors a warmer welcome.

The commission had only a couple of minor reservations, including wanting to see a prototype of the new benches (equipped with their own lights and a mechanism to raise them in and out of the floor) that will replace the old straw chairs.

"We are very satisfied with this decision which respects the broad principles that we outlined, including the work on the lighting and the guidance for visitors," said Father Gilles Drouin, who is in charge of the interior renovation.

'Undermine' religious space

But the changes have sparked criticism, with around 100 public figures putting their names to an opinion piece in right-wing newspaper Le Figaro, saying they "entirely undermine the decor and religious space" of the landmark.

They called for the authorities to respect the work of Viollet-le-Duc, the architect who overhauled the 12th-century cathedral in the late 1800s, though in keeping with the Gothic style that was enjoying a renaissance at the time.

French cultural authorities have been working to restore the cathedral since April 2019, when a fire consumed two-thirds of its roof, destroyed its spire and damaged parts of the interior.

• Notre-Dame Fire: ‘I never expected to see something like this’

French president Emmanuel Macron is hoping to reopen the church in 2024, when Paris is set to host the Summer Olympic Games, but many experts estimate renovations will take at least 10 years or more.

'Politically correct Disneyland'

The proposed changes are intended to facilitate access to the building, which sees some 12 million visitors per year.

People will now be able to enter the cathedral through its grand central doors rather than the side entrance as was previously the case.

Among the other changes -- the addition of softer mood lighting, hung at head-level, and Bible quotes projected in multiple languages on the walls.

The diocese also plans to rearrange altars and other items to free up space for people to move around.

The culture ministry confirmed to AFP that modern artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Louise Bourgeois and street art pioneer Ernest Pignon-Ernest are among the names being considered for display when new art installations replace some of the little-used 19th-century confessionals.

Speaking with conservative British paper the Telegraph, Maurice Culot, a Paris-based architect, complained that its renovations would turn the inside of the cathedral into a "politically correct Disneyland."

Louise Bourgeois in 1990 with her marble sculpture "Eye to Eye" (1970). © ADAGP, Paris, 2008 © ADAGP, Paris, 2008.

Contemporary art 'not new'

"The church is 2,000 years old — it is an old lady," says Didier Rykner, the editor in chief of art magazine La Tribune de l’Art and one of the co-signatories of the editorial. 

"It has a history that we must respect, that today’s people cannot erase with a stroke of the pen," he says. 

"It's a place for Christians, it's a church before anything else. Viollet-le-Duc would never have approved of this vision presented by the Paris diocese, which is like a'Christland' for tourists," Pierre-André Hélène, art historian told France Info.

• Saving the monumental sounds of Notre-Dame de Paris

In response to the addition of modern art, Father Drouin insists that "the cathedral has always been open to art from the contemporary period, right up to the large golden cross by sculptor Marc Couturier installed by Cardinal Lustiger in 1994."

"For eight centuries, Notre Dame de Paris has undergone constant evolution,” he adds, speaking with the Art Newspaper early this month. “The Church intends to renew the tradition of commissions to living artists," he said.