Louvre Museum

Louvre museum plans four-year ‘transformation’

A picture taken on June 23, 2020 shows a man pictured during a press visit, in front of the French Romantic artist Eugene Delacroix' painting the "Liberty Leading the People", at the Louvre in Paris. The Louvre museum will reopen its doors on July 6, 2020, after months of closure due to lockdown measures linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus. The coronavirus crisis has already caused "more than 40 million euros in losses" at the Louvre, announced its president and director Jean-Luc Martinez, who advocates a revival through "cultural democratization" and is preparing a "transformation plan" for the upcoming Olympic Games in 2024. THOMAS SAMSON / AFP. PARIS(AFP).- The Louvre museum hopes to transform itself and shake off its intimidating image before the Paris Olympics in four years' time, its director said Wednesday. The world's most visited museum is working on a major overhaul of how its vast collections are presented and explained, Jean-Luc Martinez told reporters. "We need to be ready in 2023/2024 for the Olympic Games, with longer hours and more rooms open," he said. To counter its elitist image, the museum will strive for a "cultural democratisation" to make its treasures more accessible with improved presentation, labelling and curating. Martinez, who comes from a working-class background, said he wanted to build on the outreach success of the Louvre's outpost museum in Lens, a poor former mining town in northern France. He said sometimes the former royal palace in the heart of Paris can "intimidate" certain demographics and the museum needs to reassure people that its collections are also for them. 40 million euro lossesTraffic on the museum's website has jumped tenfold, Martinez said, adding that the site "will be completely overhauled next year... with all collections going online". There will be more storytelling and scene-setting in both French and English, Martinez added. Visitors under age 26 already have free access to the Louvre, but Martinez is introducing a free 20-minute mini-visit this summer in an attempt to lure Parisians back inside. The museum -- which reopens after the lockdown on July 6 -- wants…