This has a cost and problems of management

After four months in these places, what is your eye on the Villa Medici

The Villa is a public institution with three missions: it must ensure further training of residents, the French perspective on the culture and highlight this House and its gardens, which are a part of heritage. Need to bring this institution of the public: I can't stand to see people before in the door that can enter. Therefore, I have open gardens three days a week. For the moment: in the spring, it will be every day. Then it will be the turn of the Villa.

This has a cost and problems of management...

It is sufficient to organize! This is not insurmountable. And then revenues by paying entries of visits to the gardens will help finance the cost of surveillance society! In any case, it is a success: I was told not to open during the holidays, because there would be no one, we had the world every day, even the 1 January, the first visit in the morning.

What is the budget of the Villa Medici

We have a budget of EUR 7.5 million, which is quite modest for a business of this kind. The bulk goes to the operation of the College of the boarders, administration, maintenance and restoration of heritage. There are only 1 million for cultural activities: it is a huge imbalance at their expense. However, they are indispensable to the radiation of the Villa as it were designed André Malraux and Balthus.

How to find new ways

Partly by redeployment of the budget. Even if opportunities are reduced, they exist. The redeployment is also linked to the opening: it's revenue from tours of the gardens, to rent the place for demonstrations, as the dinner of Alta Moda (grouping professional sewing, Editor's note) at the launch of the exhibition Richard Avedon, whose a part here, lies hotel activities: villa lease 15 rooms, of which I want to improve the comfort. I wish also to pay, without exception, the hosts. I think that we can identify 300,000 euros of resources this year with the rentals. I will also reorganize the bookshop, which loses money: it will be installed in a new place and its management to the Italian Publisher Electa. The rest, to resort to the patronage, of course.

Do you have any latitude in this area, and how does you find

Yes, the articles leave me great freedom, I can do a lot of things, in compliance with the accounting rules, naturally. I think that I must find 500,000 euros a year in sponsorship.

Between redeployment and external financing, you will give what multiply cultural events. How many exhibitions do you make each year

I want all the time! My program is more open, more of residents of various nationalities think that there has never been a boarder from Africa black and more events.

I have already started: in January, we made a retrospective of filmmaker Jean Eustache, unknown in Italy. I try to do dialogue Italian and French cinema. Then the Cinémathèque of dance, with an evening Jean-Paul Goude. We also organized a concert with the Atelier lyrique de l ' Opéra de Paris.

How do you manage this diverse set

I work much and I am looking after all, even to install a terminal of credit cards for payment of the rooms. I myself am installed where do expected me not. It said "it is television...". ", and I focus on the management and administration. I have a team of 50 people, including Italians working here from generation to generation and the Villa is the life. The House works, and I believe convincing the team to follow me in this adventure.

Culturally, what is your policy

I would like to have two or three exhibitions at the same time, to excite the curiosity of visitors. My goal is to balance between contemporary art and Heritage events. Thus, we prepare an exhibition Granet. In order to do this, I will open new spaces for exhibitions: Balthus workshop, the music fair...

Another objective is to achieve what each exhibition leaves a trace. Thus, after his exposure to two years, the Italian sculptor Giuseppe Penone has left a tree... Bertrand Lavier will leave with ceramic coats that are exposed on the facade of the villa. This is an example of dialogue between contemporary and heritage. I also restore furniture of Balthus and his sculptures, which were very damaged. All of this will be exposed, it will explain Balthus, what he did and why... It is a true journey.

That said, must be understood that when the Villa Medici was prescriber