After the appointment of Martin Bethenod to the CNAP, another key public policy position in contemporary art is changing hands. Marie-Cécile Burnichon is appointed delegate for visual arts to the General Directorate of Artistic Creation (DGCA) of the Ministry of Culture on December 19, 2025. Marie-Cécile Burnichon is responsible for steering the national policy in favor of the visual arts. It oversees several public establishments, including the National Center for Visual Arts (CNAP), the National Manufactures, the French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, the Palais de Tokyo and the Jeu de Paume. She also supervises relations with the Regional Contemporary Art Funds (FRAC) and the public artistic commissioning policy.

Graduated in 1998 with a master’s degree in cultural engineering and cultural mediation at the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Marie-Cécile Burnichon (51 years old) built her career in the field of contemporary art. She held positions at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lyon, where she worked on coordinating exhibitions. She was general secretary of Platform, the Frac network, from 2009 to 2014. In this position, she contributed to the national coordination of policies for the acquisition and dissemination of public contemporary art collections. In 2014, she joined the French Institute, where she was appointed deputy director of artistic creation and cultural industries, a position she held until her appointment to the Ministry of Culture in December 2025.

Marie-Cécile Burnichon succeeds Delphine Fournier who held the position since September 2023. Her career has led her to hold responsibilities within several professional organizations in the contemporary art sector, including the Federation of Contemporary Art Professionals (CIPAC) and the Professional Committee of Art Galleries (CPGA).