About
Xavier Dectot
Cultural leader for fifteen years, in France, the United Kingdom and abroad. Art historian.
From opening a major regional museum to preparing one designed by international, award-winning architects, a single thread: creating, structuring, transforming ambitious cultural projects, from vision to operations, from collections to audiences, with sustainability, accessibility for all and the visitor experience at their heart.
2024-2026
Director, Musée national Clemenceau-de LattreSecuring the future and reorganising France's only national museum in a rural setting.
2019-2022
Director, Lusail Museum, DohaVision, branding, collection strategy, global preparation of a museum designed by Herzog & de Meuron.
2016-2019
Keeper of Art and Design, National Museums ScotlandLeading a department with a curatorial team of ten, and opening the new art, design and fashion galleries.
2011-2016
Founding Director, Louvre-LensOpening a major regional museum designed by SANAA: 80 staff, a €15M budget, up to €1.5M a year in patronage.
PhD from the École pratique des hautes études, and a graduate of the École nationale des chartes. Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.
Working languages: French, English, Spanish.