France. The increased development of exhibitions, coupled with the State’s desire for decentralization, has led to an increase in loans and deposits from national museums. For several decades, the distinction between the loan and the deposit was difficult before a decree of March 3, 1981 – modified and integrated into articles D. 423-6 et seq. of the Heritage Code – distinguished it.
Today, the deposit is a long-term aid granted by a richly endowed institution to another which is less endowed, while the loan is a means of facilitating the organization of temporary exhibitions. Faced with an evolution in practice and the need to implement a real strategy for the circulation of cultural goods, a decree of May 22, 2026 broadens the ability for national museums to grant loans of works in their custody.
Loans open to new cultural actors
First, the decree redefines the beneficiaries. Until now, works could be loaned to private cultural and non-profit organizations, which excluded commercial companies such as art galleries. From now on, national museums will be able to grant loans “to public persons or legal entities under private law, which guarantee its accessibility to the public” for purposes “ temporary exhibitions of a cultural nature held as part of a cultural project accompanied, where appropriate, by mediation actions” or – novelty – to “cultural events, during which national museums carry out a cultural promotion operation or seek sponsorship intended in particular for the restoration or enrichment of their collections”. The logic of cultural strategy therefore replaces a strictly museum logic. In all cases, decisions are taken after advice from the scientific commission of national museums and the beneficiaries must guarantee “compliance with conservation conditions, particularly in terms of security and safety”.
Secondly, the deposit of cultural property in historical monuments was reserved for those belonging to local authorities, not assigned to a museum, and open to the public. From now on, the criterion of public ownership disappears and only openness to the public counts. Tomorrow, castles or private historic residences will be able to request deposits to offer their visitors another look at their monuments.
Finally, the decree clarifies the situation regarding the duration of deposits by stating that it is “granted for a maximum period of five years, renewable”. However, the deposit can be up to twenty-five years renewable for deposits after October 7, 1910, and for at least fifty years at the time when its renewal occurs, works resulting from a donation in payment, deposits intended for a foreign museum, and goods recovered following the Second World War, – works (National Recovery Museums, MNR).
This long-awaited reform by professionals opens new ways to better circulate the collections of national museums while securing legal practice.
