STRASBOURG.- Paul-François Lang, at present Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, will be the new Director of the Museums of Strasbourg from April 2018. He will succeed Joëlle Pijaudier-Cabot, Chief Heritage Curator and Director of the Museums of the City of Strasbourg since 2007.

Roland Ries, the Mayor of Strasbourg, has welcomed an appointment unanimously approved by the members of the selection panel. The panel was composed of representatives of the Ministry of Culture and the City of Strasbourg, together with qualified persons recognized for their expertise in scientific and cultural matters, and was chaired by Alain Fontanel, First Deputy Mayor in charge of Culture and Heritage.
To entrust its exceptional museum network to a personality with an exemplary professional record is a measure of the City's ambition. With exceptional international experience, in a career that has taken him to Canada via the Museum of Art and History in Geneva, PaulFrançois Lang can also claim proven familiarity with scientific and cultural networks on both national and international levels.

As a native of the Upper Rhine region, possessing dual Swiss and French nationality, PaulFrançois Lang's project for the Strasbourg Museums rests on fine-tuned, intimate knowledge of their collections and on rethinking what he describes as "the necessary renewal of museum audiences", particularly through digital technology. He will focus on developing exhibition projects aiming to continue and deepen collaboration between the different network institutions, including those of the Upper Rhine region, with the constant aim of implicating all the teams maintaining the Strasbourg museums.

The eleven museums and historic monuments of the City of Strasbourg together make up one of the largest networks among French museums. With more than 560,000 visitors every year, they cover a vast encyclopaedic field and house important collections regularly enriched by new acquisitions. A rich and ambitious cultural and educational programme contributes to the wide influence of the museums nationally and internationally.