Pandemic pushes storied Paris vintage fan museum to brink of folding

Anne Hoguet, 74, fan maker and director of the hand fan-making museum poses with a a wood roasted hand fan representing the falcon hunt, gouache painting on paper dated from 1880 in Paris. Photo: AP

Just like the leaves of its gilded fans, France’s storied fan-making museum could fold and vanish. The splendid Musee de l’Eventail in Paris, classed as a historical monument, is the cultural world’s latest coronavirus victim.

It has until Jan 23 to pay up over US$142,000 (RM574,000) in rent arrears - stemming mainly from losses during lockdowns, otherwise it will close. And with it will go the savoir-faire of its workshop. The studio that teaches design and restoration to a new generation of fan-makers was placed on France’s intangible heritage list last year.