Natalie Bondel joins the Arab World Institute in Paris

Almost a year after her dismissal from the presidency of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA), former filmmaker Nathalie Bondel expects her to return as director of the Museums and Exhibitions Division at the Institute for the Arab World (IMA) in Paris.

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Natalie Bondel has been selected to fulfill a three-year mission and will have to breathe new life into the French establishment by expanding its international programs and partnerships.

“We chose Natalie Bondel because of her personal and professional profile, and the great work she has accomplished in the 13 years to raise the international profile of MMFA,” explained IMA President Claude Mollard. The Art Newspaper.

The new director was unanimously appointed by a jury consisting of the head of the Islamic department of the Louvre Museum, Yannick Lintz, former Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO, Leila Shahid, the Lebanese architect Hala Warda, as well as the director of the Picasso Museum in Paris, Laurent Le Bon.

His first assignment at the Arab World Institute will be to expand and redevelop the museum’s art galleries.

A new challenge for the former director of MMFA, who was fired last July due to a work climate deemed “toxic” following employee complaints reported by the union. M^I Bondel then sued the museum’s board of directors for unfair dismissal and defamation.

The Arab World Institute, run by an institution set up by France and 23 Arab countries, promotes Arab culture and heritage.