The long battle for the arts

The art and craft professions are characterised by creativity‚ know-how‚ individual entrepreneurship and international growth. They are currently evolving in a context of several thematic projects which are promising for the French economy, and yet, these professions do not exist. Or rather‚ they did not exist from a legal point of view until a vote in 2014 for a law which recognised their existence as an economic sector in their own right. This law is one step in a long battle led by the Ateliers d’Art de France. This professional union for the arts covers approximately two hundred different artistic professions which are united by the way in which they exercise their activity, involving both excellence in craftsmanship and artistic creation, two dimensions which are inseparable and which comprise the uniqueness of this professional sector. This fight is far from over‚ and in the end should enable professionals in the arts sector to benefit from a status adapted to their activity of ‘creative craftspeople’. It also seeks to provide the means for the sector to flourish and for French art professions to position themselves in an arts market which is starting to become international.