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Enid Tsui

Christophe Leribault, president of the Louvre Museum, is encouraging Asian art lovers to help fund a more than €1 billion (US$1.2 billion) architectural overhaul aimed at easing overcrowding and transforming the visitor experience at the Paris landmark.
Leribault arrived in Hong Kong on September 9, fresh from opening a Renaissance exhibition in Tokyo that featured Leonardo da Vinci’s rarely loaned La Belle Ferronniere (circa 1490).
Speaking at the French consulate in Hong Kong, he outlined his strategy for leading the world’s most visited museum out of a crisis. Leribault took office in February 2026, after his predecessor, Laurence des Cars, resigned under intense pressure following a catastrophic heist in which thieves stole French crown jewels valued at around US$100 million from the institution in 2025.
To help offset rising security, urgent repair and infrastructure costs, international tourists are already shouldering a heavier burden. In January, the Louvre introduced a controversial dual-pricing system, hiking admission fees for non-European Union visitors by 45 per cent, from €22 to €32.
However, ticketing income and state funding will only cover 75 per cent of the monumental Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance project, Leribault said. The project was put into place by des Cars and officially launched by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2025, to raise the museum’s annual capacity from 9 million to 12 million.

A €360 million funding shortfall remains even after a €300 million contribution from the licensing fee earned from the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Noting that 16 per cent of the Louvre’s visitors come from Asia – Chinese tourists made up the largest group – Leribault hopes regional philanthropists will step forward.
“I’d love to have some sponsors from Asia,” he said. “You know, about 80 per cent of visitors to the museum are foreigners. So it’d be nice if we could have the participation [in the donation drive] of some.”
Taking the helm amid severe scrutiny, Leribault’s immediate priority was to engage with museum staff. After union complaints and multiple walkouts in the past year over understaffing and safety concerns, Leribault said he spent his first months at the Louvre consulting widely “to understand better the sources of the crisis”.
“We have to really talk to the guards, with the curators, with the art conservators, for example,” he noted, and added that close collaboration with the city of Paris is also essential since the new entrances will reconnect the Louvre with the city centre.
The overhaul is desperately needed to fix severe bottlenecks. The museum currently operates under a daily cap of 30,000 visitors, with the 1980s glass pyramid designed by I.M. Pei and the Mona Lisa being primary choke points.

The master plan will relocate da Vinci’s famed portrait to a purpose-built underground gallery. Visitors will pre-book specific time slots and enter the viewing room in groups of “no more than 20”, ending the chaotic scrums of the past.
Furthermore, two new entrances designed by architect Annabelle Selldorf will open below the Colonnade, a 17th century facade. Leribault emphasised that the design will be “softer” and highly respectful of both the historic palace and Pei’s architectural legacy.
Beyond structural changes, Leribault is rethinking the art displays themselves. He plans to overhaul the gallery hangings, “mixing painting, sculpture and drawings, to show more to the visitors how all those forms of art are connected”. He envisions a balanced Louvre that honours its dual audience.
“It’s a priority to welcome the people … who have taken the plane,” he said, while stressing the simultaneous need to “save some space and quiet moments for the people who are living in the city”.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2028 and will take up to 15 years, with wings closing individually to keep the museum operational.
Leribault said he looks forward to further exhibitions for Hong Kong and mainland Chinese audiences, reinforcing his belief that the Louvre is “not a nationalistic museum” but a universal sanctuary devoted to artworks from everywhere.


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The Louvre Pyramid, designed by I.M. Pei, in 2025. The Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance project has been proposed to resolve overcrowding and reimagine the visitor experience at Paris' Louvre Museum. Photo: Reuters

Christophe Leribault, the president of the Louvre Museum, at the French consulate in Hong Kong. Photo: Elson Li

The Mona Lisa, by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, at the Louvre Museum, on July 22, 2026. Photo: AFP

Young Woman at the Well (left, 1886) and Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano (1910), by French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, were stolen from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, on September 8, 2026. Photos: Reuters

Renoir’s Portrait of Madame Pichon (1895) was stolen from the Renoir Museum in the September 8 heist, but was later retrieved. Photo: Reuters

Renoir’s Coco Reading (1905) was also stolen in the heist but was later retrieved. Photo: Reuters

A not so ‘Dissident Chorus’? Busan Biennale 2026 makes some political noise

The lobby of the Busan Museum of Contemporary Art features a selection of images taken from The House of Korean Protest Songs archive during the 2026 Busan Biennale. Photo: Enid Tsui

The Warriors Return (1999) by Abdul Qadim Haqq. Photo: Enid Tsui

A classroom transformed by Mongolian artist Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar. Photo: Enid Tsui

Part of Hyunsung Park’s transformation of the kitchen in the empty high school building used for the Busan Biennale. Photo: Enid Tsui

A scene from Joshua Serafin’s Whispering Pleas of the Eternal Echoes. Photo: Enid Tsui 

A view of Sungsil Ryu’s Ten Thousand Dreams. Photo: Enid Tsui

Dew Kim’s Act 3: The Revealed Constellation transforms a bridge connecting two buildings in the Busan Nam High School into a corridor of stained glass. Photo: Enid Tsui

We Carry Our Pain Like a Language (2026) by Yazan Khalili. Photo: Enid Tsui

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Visitors walks through the Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul on June 21, 2026. (Photo by JADE GAO / AFP)

Visitors wearing traditional hanbok dresses take a selfie in front of Gwanghwamun Gate, the main gate of Gyeongbokgung, a former royal palace in Seoul, on March 16, 2026. Photo: AFP

Visitors walk through Gyeongbokgung, a former royal palace in Seoul, on June 21, 2026. Photo: AFP

Biwon, or the Secret Garden, at Changdeokgung palace. Photo: Shutterstock

Seoul’s ancient city wall with urban sprawl behind it. Photo: Shutterstock

A cruise along the Han River in Seoul. Photo: Shutterstock

Tourists look out on Seoul from the Lotte World Tower observation deck. Photo: Xinhua

The National Museum of Korea, among the largest museums in the world, takes visitors through 5,000 years of Korean history. Photo: Shutterstock

Visitors walk beside a military fence at Imjingak Park near the demilitarised zone (DMZ) in Paju, South Korea, on November 22, 2023. Photo: AFP

Visitors use binoculars to look at the North Korean side of the demilitarised zone (DMZ) from an observatory in Paju, north of Seoul. Photo: Sopa Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Butter believe it – first Paris boutique devoted to France’s favourite fat opens

Erwan Leo, owner of Le Butter Shop, stands in front of a fridge at his shop that is devoted entirely to butter in Paris, France, on August 25, 2026. Photo: AP Photo/Christophe Ena

Samples of flavoured butters are offered to customers on wooden spoons at Le Butter Shop in Paris. Photo: AP/Christophe Ena

Packs of various flavoured butters are displayed in a refrigerator at Le Butter Shop. Photo: AP Photo/Christophe Ena

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To offset the costs of a major upgrade, Christophe Leribault, president of the Louvre Museum, would ‘love to have some sponsors from Asia’


To offset the costs of a major upgrade, Christophe Leribault, president of the Louvre Museum, would ‘love to have some sponsors from Asia’.


France

Emmanuel Macron

Laurence des Cars

Why France’s Louvre Museum is looking East to help fund its €1 billion transformation

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}To offset the costs of a major upgrade, Christophe Leribault, president of the Louvre Museum, would ‘love to have some sponsors from Asia’

To offset the costs of a major upgrade, Christophe Leribault, president of the Louvre Museum, would ‘love to have some sponsors from Asia’