French museums eye selfie stick ban

French museums eye selfie stick ban
By Hannah Edensor


Bad news for selfie-stick lovers – museums in Paris are moving towards banning the popular devices because of the hazard they pose for crowds and artworks.

Inside the famed Palace of Versailles just outside the French capital, guards are telling visitors to put away the telescoping rods that allow users to take a smartphone picture of themselves at a distance.

A formal rule change will soon prohibit the poles outright.

The management of the Louvre – the world’s most visited museum – is watching with increasing wariness the burgeoning use of the selfie sticks being waved around within centimetres of priceless paintings.

There was no ban there yet, but “their use must respect the rules”, which included not pointing objects at the paintings or sculptures, a spokeswoman said.

The Pompidou Centre, which houses modern art exhibitions, is “heading towards a ban but the decision has not yet been made”, its management said.

Already several other big museums in the world have this year started banning the extending rods, including the Smithsonian in Washington, the MOMA in New York, and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

The measures were taken as use of the cheap, telescoping rods, some of which can extend to 1.5m, becomes a ubiquitous and worldwide trend.

It is not unusual to see tour groups waving a forest of the aluminium poles holding smartphones aloft in some high-density tourist sites.

In Paris, a ban on them inside museums would have a significant impact. The City of Light is a prime destination for fans of culture and history. Together the Louvre, Versailles, the Pompidou Centre and the Musee d’Orsay attract more than 20 million visitors per year.

Safety – for other visitors passing by in often crowded spaces and of the fragile paintings, sculptures and palace furnishings – is cited as the reason for the move against the selfie sticks.

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