Agnès de T’Serclaes (E00) and Yann Le Touher (E07): ‘We Fight the Cultural Gap’

Agnès de T’Serclaes (E00) and Yann Le Touher (E07) respectively hold the positions of Deputy General Manager and Director of External Relations at the Art Explora Foundation, which sets out to make culture accessible to the widest number. They tell us about their actions, and how you can support them.

ESSEC Alumni: What are your respective backgrounds?

Agnès de T’Serclaes: Following initial experience at the Petit Palais museum and McKinsey, I spent 12 years in marketing with Procter & Gamble, working between France and Spain. I then moved to Colombia, where I created the Latin American subsidiary of the French start-up Kidizz. I later returned to Paris to join the Art Explora Foundation, and am currently Deputy General Manager.

Yann Le Touher: Having also studied at the Ecole du Louvre, I was fortunate enough to start my career with renowned Parisian museums such as the Orsay, Centre Pompidou and Grand Palais, before working with the Louvre for 7 years as assistant manager of patronage and partnerships. I was recently appointed Director of External Relations in charge of communication and patronage at the Art Explora Foundation.

EA: What is the goal of the Art Explora Foundation?

A. de T’Serclaes: The entrepreneur Frédéric Jousset created this foundation based on the realisation that while there is a rich and abundant cultural offer in our part of the world, the demand is far too centralised, with just one French person in two actually visiting a museum every year. In addition, these visitors to cultural institutions always share the same profile. The barriers can be geographical or economic, but are above all social and psychological. Many people believe museums are not for them.

Y. Le Touher: The Art Explora Foundation thus sets out to address this cultural gap and make art accessible to the widest possible audience. We are an operating foundation; in other words, we initiate our own projects, for which we call on artists, cultural organisations, local players and community groups. The aim is to find innovative solutions together to enable people to encounter culture; this emotion which changes our view of the world and contributes to personal and social development.

EA: You are active in several areas. What projects do you lead in the mobility field? 

Y. Le Touher: We lend our support in particular to the MuMo (Mobile Museum), a lorry housing an exhibition of works from the Centre Pompidou and which travels around France bringing art to rural and suburban areas. 50% of its stops are located in villages of less than 2,000 inhabitants. Schoolchildren are a priority target, and the results are telling: 36% of the MuMo’s visitors have never been to a museum before. 

A. de T’Serclaes: 2024 will also see the launch of the Art Explora Festival and its museum-ship, which will begin its expedition in the Mediterranean with a maiden voyage to Malta in March, before a major inaugural stopover planned at Marseille’s Vieux-Port in June. On board, visitors will discover an immersive exhibition produced in association with the Louvre, and the quays will form a venue for virtual reality experiences, conferences, concerts and other live performances. 

Y. Le Touher: It’s important to point out that admission to all these events is free, which, in addition to the local aspect, offers another way to make these cultural offers more accessible. 

EA: What about the digital field? 

Y. Le Touher: We’re developing the Art Explora Academy, an application to discover art history through fun learning paths. A certificate from Sorbonne University is awarded to those who reach the end of these microlearning sessions, that can be followed from home or on public transport. Our primary aim is to significantly increase the number of users, especially young people, students and the general public. Everyone has a smartphone today, so rather than swiping through social networks or scrolling news stories, let’s download the application and learn more about culture in 10 minutes!

EA: What links do you have to public cultural institutions?

Y. Le Touher: I come from one myself, so we like them a lot! More seriously, we are not here to oppose public cultural institutions, but see ourselves more as a complement. Firstly, these institutions participate in our administration board, as Laurent Le Bon, President of Centre Pompidou, and Erol Ok, Managing Director of the Institut Français, are members. Secondly, we forge numerous partnerships with public institutions. We mentioned our mobile museums in association with the Louvre and Centre Pompidou, but we also have social programmes with Bordeaux’s Fine Arts Museum, Centre Pompidou-Metz and the Carnavalet Museum. We do nothing without others because we are all working in the public interest. 

A. de T’Serclaes: The fact that the French Council of State recently enacted our change from endowment fund to a Recognised Public Interest Foundation (FRUP) is also proof of this. This decision officialises public authorities’ acknowledgement of our commitment. We are entering a relatively select club whose members include the Heritage Foundation, the Pasteur Institute or the Abbé Pierre Foundation.

EA: How do you fund your activities? 

A. de T’Serclaes: The FRUP status enables us to call on all forms of support from public partners, as well as private donors or patrons (tax benefits, real estate wealth tax, or bequests, etc.). We therefore call on the generosity of each and every one. 

EA: How can alumni support your initiatives?

Y. Le Touher: You can make a donation of course, either individually or via your company, which will be eligible for tax discounts on income, real estate wealth or corporate tax accordingly. You can also help us to raise funds or offer some of your time as a volunteer.  

EA: How does one become a volunteer for the Art Explora Foundation? What sort of commitment does it entail? 

A. de T’Serclaes: At present, around 2,000 volunteers are registered on our platform. These retired people, students or workers devote as much time as they wish on a monthly basis to a variety of activities, such as leading groups in museums, discussions on art in nursing homes, running children’s workshops in leisure centres or bringing art to hospital patients, and so on. No qualifications are required, you just need to go to the ‘Become a Volunteer’ tab on our website and our team will contact you to provide you with training and activities in your vicinity, anywhere in France. We firmly believe that ‘Art is Good for Us’ and it’s a wonderful thing to experience and share.

Interview by Louis Armengaud Wurmser  (E10), Content Manager at ESSEC Alumni 

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