This paper analyses the history and the current state of the French museum system. French state museums have always played an important role in French public life and the government has used museums as symbols of political power and promulgators of ideology. This was most evident during the French revolution when Louvre was first opened and many other state museums were founded. The French museum system has always been strongly centralized both in geographical terms and in terms of administration and funding. Recently, the French government has begun to move away from this model and allow for regional and municipal satellite museums to be built, while at the same time, Louvre and Centre Pompidou were allowed to license their names to branch museums built outside of France (Abu Dhabi and Shanghai). At the same time, there is a movement to decentralize museum administration and management and give them more autonomy.
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