http://www.theartnewspaper.com/pages/itf/in-the-frame.aspx?y=2014&m=6 — theartnewspaper.com

France’s revolutionary spirit flared up in Rodez last Friday at François Hollande’s visit to the newly-minted Musée Soulages. A protest of over 200 artists, casual workers and farmers turned violent around 10.30am as riot police armed with tear gas blockaded the avenue to the museum before the President’s arrival. Two protesters were injured and a third arrested, reported the local news team Centre Presse. While Hollande managed to sidestep the demonstrators, one of his agricultural advisors wasn’t so lucky. Philippe Vinçon became the victim of a short-lived hostage plot during a meeting with members of the farmers’ union Confédération Paysanne. The ransom? The liberté of five of their number from detention in Amiens, where they were held on suspicion of vandalising the construction site of the so-called “thousand cows” dairy farm. Happily, the standoff ended quickly when the group received word their comrades would be freed and Vinçon was released just three hours later.

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