The Louvre Abu Dhabi Project: A New Arm for France’s Cultural Diplomacy in the Persian Gulf Region? A Paper by Julien Herlory 10th Semester Project – Master Thesis Aalborg University, Denmark June 2008 « Pourquoi c’est si important, un nom bien choisi ? Un nom, c’est par là qu’on découvre un endroit, pas vrai ? C’est le visage qu’on présente au monde. » Colson Whitehead, Apex Department of Development and International Relations The Louvre Abu Dhabi Project: A New Arm for France’s Cultural Diplomacy in the Persian Gulf Region? Statement of Authenticity: I hereby certify that this paper is my original work and has been cited accurately. Julien Herlory: _______________________________________ Supervisor:.……………. Henrik Plaschke 10th Semester Master Program in Development and International Relations Full amount of characters (no space): 183 522 Handed in: June 30th 2008 Remerciements Je tiens à exprimer ma vive reconnaissance à John pour le temps qu’il m’a consacré et l’aide si précieuse qu’il m’a apportée à la correction de ce mémoire. Je voudrais exprimer ma gratitude à Louma Salamé, Chargée de Communication à l’Agence France-Museums, pour avoir répondu à mes questions concernant le projet du Louvre Abu Dhabi. Bien sûr je remercie chaleureusement mes parents pour leurs encouragements et leur soutien aussi bien moral que financier tout au long de mes études et plus particulièrement au cours de la rédaction de ce mémoire ! Je souhaiterais aussi remercier mon frère Olivier et Béatrice qui m’ont poussé à persévérer dans mon entreprise. Je voudrais également remercier John et Susanne pour leur précieux soutien au plus mauvais moment de mon mémoire. Mille mercis ! Thank you so much! Tusind tak ! Enfin, je remercie également ma famille et mes amis pour leur soutien tout au long de la rédaction de ce mémoire. Abstract This paper deals with the Louvre Abu Dhabi that is a new universal museum established with France’s assistance in the United Arab Emirates to be opened in 2013. Through the three-fold lens of soft power, place branding and cultural diplomacy, this essay examines the French engagement in this unprecedented and outstanding cultural cooperation venture and its impact on France’s image and interests. The French participation in the Emirati venture appears to be in tune with France’s continuous and long-standing commitment to the international cultural relations as a major component of its foreign policy. Through the conduct of this project, France pursues its international cultural objectives. On the one hand, it is a way of promoting French culture and spreading its influence in the United Arab Emirates. On the other hand, this remarkable cooperation project represents a cultural bridge between the civilizations. Furthermore, the Louvre Abu Dhabi may have politically and economically beneficial knock-on effects for France in many ways. The Louvre Abu Dhabi is notably a remarkable means of branding France’s image. In addition, the Louvre Abu Dhabi is a striking illustration of the deployment of France’s soft power and even smart power in the Persian Gulf region. However some critics voice concerns about the instrumentalization of French cultural legacy and institutions for political ends and they underline that France’s image may somewhat be negatively impacted by the Louvre Abu Dhabi venture. The paper ends with recommendations for the future conduct of complex international museum cooperation project, by advocating the need to build a strong and independent governance structure in which multiple stakeholders and notably cultural professionals could develop and implement a coordinated and strategic policy. Keywords: Louvre Abu Dhabi – French cultural diplomacy – soft power – place branding – international cultural relations – intangible assets – museum franchising Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................................................................III LIST OF APPENDICES....................................................................................................................................III LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.............................................................................................................................IV CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................................4 2.1 DEFINITION OF CENTRAL CONCEPTS.....................................................................................................5 2.2 SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION...................................................................................................................11 2.3 CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT THE FRAMEWORK FOR INVESTIGATION.......................................................13 2.4 CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT THE ANALYTICAL APPROACH.....................................................................15 2.5 PROJECT OUTLINE...............................................................................................................................16 CHAPTER 3: A FRAMEWORK FOR INVESTIGATION........................................................................17 3.1 A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK.............................................................................................................17 3.1.1 Soft Power.....................................................................................................................................17 3.1.1.1 The Prominence of Hard Power and the Emergence of Soft Power.....................................................17 3.1.1.2 Hard Power and Soft Power: Two Different but Complementary Concepts........................................19 3.1.1.3 The Soft-Power Resources...................................................................................................................21 3.1.1.4 Limits of and Critics about Soft Power................................................................................................23 3.1.2 Place Branding..............................................................................................................................25 3.1.2.1 Taxonomy of Positions on Place Branding..........................................................................................26 3.1.2.2 The Goals that Place Branding Enables to Achieve.............................................................................27 3.1.2.3 The Stakeholders and the Main Elements of Place Branding...............................................................28 3.1.2.4 The Practice of Museum Branding.......................................................................................................32 3.1.3 The Objectives of an International Cultural Policy.......................................................................36 3.1.3.1 International Cultural Policy as a Way to Spread its Influence Abroad...............................................36 3.1.3.2 International Cultural Policy as a Way to Reach Economic Prosperity................................................37 3.1.3.3 International Cultural Policy as a Way to Build a More Peaceful World.............................................38 3.1.3.4 International Cultural Policy as a Way to Foster Cultural Diversity....................................................39 3.2 A CONTEXTUAL FRAMEWORK............................................................................................................40 3.2.1 An Overview of French Cultural Diplomacy.................................................................................40 3.2.1.1 Promoting French Culture and Spreading French Influence................................................................41 3.2.1.2 Fostering Cultural Dialogue and Enhancing Cultural Cooperation......................................................44 3.2.2 The Environment of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum.....................................................................47 3.2.2.1 The United Arab Emirates....................................................................................................................47 3.2.2.2 The UAE-France Relationship.............................................................................................................52 3.2.3 Presentation of the Louvre Abu Dhabi..........................................................................................55 CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS OF LOUVRE ABU DHABI’S IMPACT ON FRANCE’S IMAGE AND INTERESTS ..................................................................................................................................................59 4.1 PURPOSE OF FRANCE’S PARTICIPATION TO THE LOUVRE ABU DHABI VENTURE.................................59 4.1.1 Motives of a Cultural Nature.........................................................................................................60 4.1.1.1 The Louvre Abu Dhabi: a Way of Spreading French Cultural Influence.............................................60 4.1.1.2 The Louvre Abu Dhabi: a Way of Further Developing Cultural Cooperation.....................................61 4.1.1.3 The Louvre Abu Dhabi: a Way of Promoting Cultural Diversity.........................................................62 4.1.2 Political, Diplomatic and Economic Beneficial Knock-on Effects................................................64 4.1.2.1 The Louvre Abu Dhabi: A Peace-Making Instrument..........................................................................64 4.1.2.2 The Louvre Abu Dhabi: a Way of Enhancing the Relations with the UAE.........................................65 4.1.2.3 The Louvre Abu Dhabi: a Source of Economic Gains.........................................................................65 4.1.3 Controversy over the Motives Underlying France’s Engagement in the Abu Dhabi Venture.......67 4.2 THE LOUVRE ABU DHABI: A WAY OF BRANDING FRANCE.................................................................70 4.2.1 The Use of the Louvre Brand in the Abu Dhabi Project and its Impact on the Image of “Brand France” .......................................................................................................................................................70 4.2.1.1 A Preliminary Remark about the Name of Abu Dhabi’s New Universal Museum..............................71 4.2.1.2 The Louvre: a Brand of Immense Value..............................................................................................71 4.2.1.3 The Louvre Brand: a Major Asset for France’s Brand Image..............................................................75 4.2.1.4 The Effects of the “Export” of Louvre Brand to the UAE on France’s Image.....................................76 I 4.2.2 The Louvre Abu Dhabi: an Exceptional Way of Representing France’s Culture and Heritage....81 4.2.3 The Louvre Abu Dhabi: an Appealing Tourist Outpost for France in the UAE............................82 4.2.4 The Louvre Abu Dhabi: an Illustration of France’s Foreign Cultural Policy...............................83 4.3 THE SOFT POWER IMPLICATIONS OF THE LOUVRE ABU DHABI...........................................................85 4.3.1 The Louvre Abu Dhabi project is France’s Soft Power at Work...................................................85 4.3.2 A Way of Increasing France’s Soft Power.....................................................................................86 4.3.3 Wielding France’s Smart Power...................................................................................................86 CHAPTER 5: PROSPECTS ABOUT THE PLACE OF FRENCH MUSEUMS IN FRANCE’S CULTURAL DIPLOMACY...............................................................................................................................88 5.1.1 Meeting an Increasing Demand for Cultural Cooperation Projects in the Museum Field............88 5.1.2 The Need for the Creation of an Operator Responsible for International Actions in the Museum Field .......................................................................................................................................................89 5.1.3 The Need for a Better and More Upstream Integration of Cultural Professionals in the Policy- Making Process............................................................................................................................................91 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................93 CHAPTER 7: BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................................................96 CHAPTER 8: APPENDIX II List of Figures Figure 1: Power Spectrum........................................................................................................20 Figure 2: Place Branding Hexagon...........................................................................................28 Figure 3: Location Map of the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East Region...................47 Figure 4: Administrative Map of the United Arab Emirates....................................................48 List of Appendices Appendix 1 The French Culture: One of the Foremost Players in the World of Culture Appendix 2 The Main Actors of France’s Cultural Diplomacy’s System III List of Abbreviations AFAA – Association Française d’Action Artistique (French Association for Artistic Action) BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India, China DGCID – Direction Générale de la Coopération Internationale et du Développement (Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development) DMF – Direction des Musées de France (Directorate of Museums of France) GATT – General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade GDP – Gross Domestic Product HRW – Human Rights Watch UAE – United Arab Emirates UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization US – United States (of America) IV CHAPTER 1: Introduction CHAPTER 1: Introduction In March 2007, the French government made an historic deal with the government from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which paves the way for the establishment of a museum named “Louvre Abu Dhabi” on Saadiyat Island. According to this cultural cooperation agreement, France will help the UAE to launch and develop one of its four new museums located on this island in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi which aspires to become one of the world’s new culture capitals. In exchange of € 1 billion, France’s assi stance consists of providing museum expertise, the creation of several exhibitions, the loans of hundreds of artworks from its national collections and the 30-year rent of the Louvre name (Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication 2007). By being the first deal of its kind worldwide, this bilateral cooperation agreement raises numerous transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary issues in the fields of culture, economics and politics. More specifically, the Louvre Abu Dhabi project brings up the concern for the impact that cultural institutions in general such as museums and particularly artworks and intangible cultural capital (including brands and expertise), may potentially have on cultural, political, diplomatic and economic issues. First of all, it is noteworthy that an increasingly greater attention has been paid to the vital role that culture and cultural ventures play in international relations. The matter of culture in international affairs has largely been considered as “low politics” and an issue of secondary importance among some circles of the political scientists’ community. However, the recent work of some scholars and the flourishing of publications dealing with the issues related to the impact of culture on international relations illustrate the rising interest in this question. Recently, the significance of culture in world politics has been underlined by former US Assistant Secretary of Defense Joseph Nye Jr., who defines it as one of the main sources of soft power (Nye 1990; Nye 2004a; Nye 2004b; Nye 2004c; Nye 2006 and Nye 2008). Furthermore, the publication of several reports on the topic of cultural diplomacy or public diplomacy reflects the increasing concern for this issue. In 2007, British think tank Demos published a paper entitled Cultural Diplomacy whose subtitle “Culture is a central component of international relations. It’s time to unlock its full potential…” makes the growing interest in the essential role of international cultural relations clear (Bound et al. 2007)! 1