On Monday morning, protesters in Paris picketed the Louvre, restricting access to the museum. The demonstration was organised by the students at the École du Louvre, in solidarity with the much wider high school student protesters in the city and across France.
The École du Louvre is a higher education college based at the museum, offring courses in art history, archaeology, epigraphy, anthropology and museology.
The unrest in Paris has seen a number of galleries close and events around Art Basel Paris scaled back. Hauser & Wirth closed its gallery on Saturday out of precaution and Jeu de Paume cancelled the opening of its Stan Douglas’s show. The art fair itself has erected anti-ram barriers around the Grand Palais and increased its security.
The Louvre protest comes on the one year anniversary of the Lourve robbery, which has been the catalyst for staff strikes demanding better working conditions and pay.
