February 2023. Jack Lang, candidate to succeed the head of the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA), had a failsafe argument to secure a fourth mandate: a complete overhaul of then-head Jean Nouvel's building, destined to become, in Lang's words, "the most important museum of modern and contemporary Arab art in the West." That and nothing less. Taking advantage of a donation of 2,000 works made in 2021 by a couple of art dealers – Claude and France Lemand – former Minister of Culture Lang aimed to revive an anemic museum, darkened by Roberto Ostinelli's obsolete design. While opening up unobstructed views of the Seine, the project involved covering the patio to create around 300 square meters of additional exhibition space. To complete the project, Lang even convinced Matignon to allocate an unprecedented €6 million from the Ministry of Culture's budget.

However, nothing went according to plan. "Ultimately, four years after the donation and two years after the payment of the subsidy allocated from the Ministry of Culture budget, the financing of the project [remains] uncertain," said the judges of the Cour des Comptes (Court of Auditors) in a half-hearted report in December. While praising the museum's dynamic and abundant programming, as well as Lang's unwavering commitment, the judges from the Rue Cambon criticized the establishment's chronic operating deficit, as well as its unclear diplomatic scope.

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