Honorific!

Next year French President Jacques Chirac will most likely exit the presidential office for good. He will be remembered, he hopes, more for the cultural legacy he will leave behind in the form of the new $300 million Quai Branly museum than for any political and social after-effect of his twelve years in power. But can a cultural legacy paid for with taxpayers money still be viewed as a gift from
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Next year French President Jacques Chirac will most likely exit the presidential office for good. He will be remembered, he hopes, more for the cultural legacy he will leave behind in the form of the new $300 million Quai Branly museum, erected in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, than for any political and social after-effect of his twelve years in power.

As might be expected, the British conservative press has enjoyed making a mockery of the French leaders final pet project. The Times labelled the museum an ‘epitaph for a botched President’, whilst The Telegraph was slightly kinder with its headline ‘Chirac bows out with dubious gift to ethnic art.’

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Craig Scutt
About the Author
Craig Scutt is a freelance author, journalist, and writer.