This was to be the icing on the cake of the intergovernmental agreement signed in April 2018 between France and Saudi Arabia for the development of the Nabataean site of Al-Ula. The treaty provided for the creation of an endowment fund for French heritage, supplemented by Saudi money in “recognition of the commitment of the French side within the framework of the partnership”.
Six years later, that contractual promise has been lost in limbo. The project of a support fund financed by the Wahhabi kingdom, however, resurfaced in March 2023, during the trip to Saudi Arabia by former Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak. This then validated the principle of a list of half a dozen places, such as the Château de Compiègne (Oise), which could benefit from it.
The right of scrutiny offered to the Saudis raised eyebrows among certain senior French officials. “It is obvious that France cannot decide on the direction itself, it is the least we can do to discuss with the Saudi side”justifies someone close to the file, confident in “the desire of the Saudis to conclude very quickly”. France can bring the subject back to the table all the more since its very active lobbying allowed Riyadh to win the 2030 Universal Exhibition.
In 2018, Didier Selles, one of the artisans of the Louvre Abu Dhabi then tipped to lead Afalula, the French agency responsible for developing the Al-Ula site, had hoped to obtain 1.2 billion euros from Saudis. According to our information, the allocation is now around 700 million euros.
Several large-scale projects
A breath of fresh air for Rue de Valois, as several major projects are looming, starting with the Center Pompidou. If the State has promised 262 million for technical work, the establishment must find 186 million euros for the realization of its “cultural project”, which provides for a total redevelopment of the spaces. According to information from Mondethe Center Pompidou, which signed, in 2023, a cultural engineering agreement worth 12 million euros over four years with the Royal Commission of Al-Ula, should be one of the first beneficiaries of the funds.
Other historic monuments could also benefit from an unexpected windfall, at a time when the 10 billion euro savings plan announced by the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, also targets culture. The heritage should thus suffer a blow of 99.5 million euros.
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