A few weeks after the surprise departure of Sabine Longin, Cécile Bourgeat (56) succeeds her as director of the Lyon Biennale. After obtaining a diploma in management and project management from the Grenoble Business School, as well as a DESS in management of cultural institutions, Cécile Bourgeat organized her career around several disciplines: culture, but also social issues. Between 2004 and 2022, she worked at the Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet in Paris, as head of development until 2006, before working for fourteen years at the Institut Lumière in Lyon, where she held the position of general secretary.
His professional path takes circuitous paths. She was an administrator and responsible for the development of Reporters Without Borders between 2001 and 2006. Between 2022 and 2025, she accompanied Alynéa Samu Social 69 in Lyon as deputy general director, then worked there independently for a youth center project. She also taught management for three years (2019-2022) at the National School of Theater Arts and Techniques (ENSATT) in Lyon. His diverse career has allowed him to have a good knowledge of the cultural environment and has given him the opportunity to collaborate with organizations of different types.
One of its ambitions for the Lyon Biennale is to diversify its audiences: “Expanding the audiences of the Lyon Biennale, as well as paying attention to those who have less easy access to its artistic disciplines, will also be at the heart of the project. » It will also have to find financial balance for an institution undermined by budget cuts.
First in the form of a festival between 1984 and 1988, called October of the Arts, the Lyon Biennale became a biennial in 1991 thanks to its founders Thierry Raspail, then director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) in Lyon, and Thierry Prat. Today it is made up of two biennials, that of dance and that of contemporary art. The association maintains a strong collaboration with Lyon institutions, since the artistic directors are respectively director of the MAC and director of the Maison de la Danse. The Contemporary Art Biennale attracts nearly 300,000 visitors per year.
Cécile Bourgeat replaces Sabine Longin, who announced her resignation in July 2025 following a disagreement with the teams. Cécile Bourgeat will have to reestablish relationships of trust with them.
