Louvre, Picasso Museum, Musée d’Orsay Will Close Saturday In Anticipation of Hard-Left Groups Targeting Public Buildings, Says Interior Minister

Museum closures are expected to take place across Paris on Saturday, in anticipation of planned protests, reports Le Figaro.

The Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Musée de l’Orangerie, Picasso Museum, and the Grand Palais’s exhibition spaces will all close their doors on Saturday. The news follows the cancelation of Art Basel Paris over the weekend, which is held at the Grand Palais. In a statement on Friday, the French Ministry of Culture said that all establishments must ensure “the safety of visitors, the protection of agents and the preservation of works.” All national and public museums are being urged to shut their doors; meanwhile, many shops have started boarding up their windows in case of a second round of looting, following last weekend’s civil unrest in the wake of mostly peaceful protests held across France, in response to social and economic inequality amid a rising cost of living.

To maintain order across the country, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that only protests organized by unions are authorized on Saturday, with partial curfews put in place in several cities. According to the Associated Press, around 70,000 law enforcement officers will be deployed across the country on Saturday and protests in cities including Lyon, Nice, and Montpellier have been banned for security reasons. Marches are still expected to take place in Paris and Marseille.

On Friday, interior minister Laurent Nunez told reporters that the government will be “uncompromising with rioters, looters and all those who commit acts of violence.” He added that the authorities had located numerous online calls from hard-left groups encouraging attacks and urging activists to target public buildings. “We are not talking about a nice, friendly demonstration. We are ready for tomorrow. We will be extremely vigilant, extremely firm, and we will let absolutely nothing pass,” said Nunez.

In response to last weekend’s violence, President Macron said, “We witnessed both political and even seditious acts carried out by organised ultra-left groups aiming to bring down the Republic – acts that these groups themselves openly claim, characterised by extreme, intense violence.”

On Thursday, ARTnews was the first to report that Fondation Louis Vuitton would close its doors ahead of the planned protest on Saturday.