Arc en rêve once again singled out for its failing management

Bordeaux. Barely recovered from its setbacks with its former secretary general, dismissed for serious misconduct in April 2023, the Bordeaux architecture center once again finds itself in the sights of the authorities. Benefits in kind, unjustified expenses, incomplete budgetary framework… In a report published on October 23, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine regional audit chamber notes multiple dysfunctions in the financial management of Arc en rêve. For a long time the City and Metropolis of Bordeaux, whose subsidies represent nearly 60% of its annual revenue, had supported the association by maintaining the level of their operating aid in 2023 and 2024 despite the embezzlement it had suffered in 2022: a real deficit of 800,000 euros and embezzlement of 40,000 euros in the form of salary advances and purchases of goods.

Failing financial management until 2023

Two budgetary anomalies dating from 2021 particularly caught the attention of the regional audit chamber. The first corresponds to the retirement benefits of one of the founders of the association, the amount of which “was increased, clearly in error, by 40%”; similarly, the concomitant paid holiday allowances were 24,000 euros higher than the amount appearing in the statement of the accounting firm which then worked for the architectural center. However, “the cabinet contests the chamber’s calculation”, defends François Brouat, the president of Arc in a dream. “We will seek arbitration from our new accounting firm in early 2026.”

Also in the viewfinder of the room, the “Thank you” evening, organized as part of the departure of the director and the artistic director at the time (the two founders of the association), which cost 45,000 euros. An amount 50% higher than the envelope approved by the board of directors. “Of course, we underestimated the price of audiovisual devices, but it was not a trivial evening, argues François Brouat. Its aim was to pay tribute to the people who have taken part in the project for forty years, and personally, I do not regret that we had this evening. »

The regional chamber of accounts also draws a critical observation of the absence of budgetary and financial control over the entire period 2019-2023. Financial magistrates estimate that the 2022 budget slippage “was only made possible by the absence of a control system and, more generally, of sufficient interest shown by management in financial matters”. It was not until March 2023 that the board of directors and management took stock of the situation. “The former secretary general did everything to slow down the process,” defends Fabrizio Gallanti, director of Arc en rêve. “It is true that we could have anticipated things from December 2022”, he admits, however.

“Since the creation of Arc en rêve in 1980, we have remained very artisanal in management without any particular internal control procedure,” confides François Brouat. The slippage of 2022 contributed to moving the lines: the association issued a formal administrative and financial regulation in 2023. Concerning human resources, including “uses were not all compatible with our collective agreement and regulations” according to the president of Arc en rêve, new procedures have been put in place in 2024.

Personal travel paid for

However, the improvement of the association’s financial framework in 2024 and the strengthening of internal control procedures did not prevent several irregularities. In its report, the chamber reveals that Fabrizio Gallanti has benefited from numerous financial advantages since his arrival in 2021. Between 2021 and 2024, the director paid for his frequent trips to his family residence in Quebec with one of the association’s professional cards. “He had a bank card which he could use freely, explains the president, and he believed himself authorized to use this money for his personal travel. » In total, Arc en rêve paid no less than 35,000 euros in plane costs, to which are added 5,000 euros in taxi and Uber bills. A benefit in kind within the meaning of the Labor Code, recalls the regional chamber of accounts. Assuring that they had discovered this abuse of use during the publication of the chamber’s report, the City and the Metropolis requested “an immediate reimbursement of sums spent for non-professional purposes and a profound evolution of the governance of the association, further specifying that Ville and Métropole reserve the possibility of taking all administrative and legal action deemed necessary”. Contacted by Arts Journalthe director said to himself “ready to repay these charges, in the form of wage garnishment for example”.

The court also recalls that Fabrizio Gallanti had received an exceptional bonus of 3,000 euros in 2022, which has since been the subject of an acknowledgment of debt. Other expenses, exceeding 20,000 euros, are also not sufficiently justified from an accounting point of view. This amount corresponds to advances that the association made to the director upon his arrival in Bordeaux, a large part of which has not yet been reimbursed. For now, only 6,900 euros have been recognized as debt.

“Everything has to be redone, we will have to regain the confidence of our financiers,” deplores François Brouat.