It's not very French to change stuff': how Claire Tabouret's stained-glass windows cast Notre Dame in new light

"Claire Tabouret can draw a clear line between before and after Notre Dame. Before she was chosen from more than 100 artists to design six new stained-glass windows for the cathedral reopened in 2024, five years after it almost burned to the ground Tabouret had a select group of admirers (one of them the French tycoon and art collector Francois Pinault), but she was hardly a household name."

"These are people who hate the project, no matter what, she says when we meet in the library at the Voorlinden, amid sweeping glass and 40,000 books ranged on wooden shelves. They didn't even really look at the designs. They go on their computers to spread hate, but you can see from the messages they write that they don't really know what it's about. And I'm also receiving a lot of love, which is very nice."

"In Paris, Tabouret's window designs are on display at the Grand Palais, before being installed at Notre Dame later this year at an estimated cost of 4m (3.3m). The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and Paris's archbishop have been enthusiastic in their support, but the plan to integrate a modern artist into a historic landmark has also provoked protests, petitions and claims of cultural and spiritual vandalism."

Claire Tabouret was chosen from over 100 artists to design six new stained-glass windows for Notre Dame, and the cathedral reopened in 2024. The selection elevated Tabouret from a select admirer base, including Francois Pinault, to wider public prominence. Her window designs are on display at the Grand Palais before installation at Notre Dame later this year, with an estimated cost of €4m. Presidential and archbishopric support contrasts with protests, petitions and accusations of cultural and spiritual vandalism. Tabouret remains unfazed by critics and notes she also receives substantial support. The Museum Voorlinden retrospective, Weaving waters, Weaving Gestures, showcases diverse media, vivid colours and explorations of identity and human relationships across fifty-plus works.

Read at www.theguardian.com