Michel Draguet announced on April 24 that he would step down as director of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium on April 30, when his contract expires, rather than seek a fourth term in the post. His decision to resign was taken in collaboration with Thomas Dermine, Belgian Secretary of State for Science Policy, and Arnaud Vajda, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Federal Science Policy. Draguet’s resignation comes four months after he was accused to make inappropriate comments to employees, and following an open letter signed by thirty-six of the museum’s 176 staff members denouncing a “toxic” work culture in the institution he heads.
Museum staff complained that Draguet behaved in an “affectionate” manner that made some employees uncomfortable; that he did not want to collaborate; that he refused to incorporate inclusive language in institutional correspondence; and that he insulted his staff, with an unnamed source recalling that he called a former communications manager “the smarts of a vagina”.
Draguet denied the allegations, saying the use of inclusive language was not a “legal requirement” and dismissed accusations related to feminist and colonialist issues on the grounds that museums are a “scientific and non-militant institution”. An internal investigation by BELSPO found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the manager.
“While the last few months have been difficult, both for the staff of the Royal Museums and for Michel himself, I would like to stress that the evaluation process, which I completed on March 23, did not provide any evidence material from the accusations of racism, homophobia or sexism reported in the press,” Vajda said in a statement. “Now that this chapter is closed, I am happy to be able to count on the expertise of Michel Draguet for the implementation of the numerous projects proposed by the department’s strategic plan, in particular with regard to promoting federal heritage.
Draguet had been at the Royal Museums since 2005. Sara Lammens, director general of the Royal Library of Belgium, will act as interim director of the institution until her replacement is found.
