Towards the end of last year, many in the art world paid tribute to the celebrated French curator Vincent Honoré who died by suicide on November 29 at the age of 48. Honoré had been head of exhibitions at the MO.CO Montpellier since 2019.

Now, the museum is contesting the recent ruling of Honoré’s death as a “workplace accident.” It has also released a statement rebutting a report in the Le Quotidien de l’Art, describing it as “an unbearable exploitation of a tragic event.”

Shortly after Honoré’s death, his family launched an investigation into its causes via the Primary Health Insurance Fund (CPAM). After assessing the evidence and speaking to the curator’s colleagues, friends, and family, the CPAM ruled that the incident was a “workplace accident” in March. This conclusion gives Honoré’s family up to two years to press criminal charges.

Vincent Honoré. Photo by Mary Ashton.

According to Le Quotidien de l’Art, the CPAM’s decision centered on the appointment of Numa Hambursin to replace Nicolas Bourriaud, who was ousted as director of MO.CO in 2021. The highly controversial move was made by the board of directors after Montpellier’s new mayor, Michaël Delafosse, declared that the museum needed more footfall and less “elitist” programming. Hambursin’s mandate was recently renewed for another three years.

The French paper cited anonymous testimonies that described Hambursin’s arrival as a “trauma” and variously described him as “authoritarian,” prone to enacting “humiliation,” and having a “very hierarchical vision.” Based on these accounts, it put forward a narrative in which Honoré felt increasingly “isolated” and at odds with the museum’s management.

As pertains to Honoré specifically, the report said he had been excluded from high-profile engagements, including a visit to one of his exhibitions by ex-president François Hollande in 2022. The report claimed that “he was not allowed to speak, particularly in front of political representatives” during public events relating to his program, nor was he named in exhibition booklets.

Le Quotidien de l’Art also recounted claims that, on November 22, 2023, a restructuring was announced that would place someone more senior above Honoré in the museum’s hierarchy. One colleague was quoted describing the move as a “hidden demotion.” Meanwhile, a note the curator allegedly sent to a friend around this time read: “I am trapped in the MO.CO., I will not be able to leave.”

In an impassioned statement posted on its website, the MO.CO called the report’s assertions “unfounded” and said they amounted to a “serious attack on the institution and the honor of certain persons named.” It said the proposed reorganization of the MO.CO would have needed a consensus opinion to go into effect and denied demoting Honoré.

The statement outlined various measures taken in the aftermath of Honoré’s death, including setting up a psychological support unit for all staff and sending his family flowers. The museum also made a case that Honoré had been supported by Hambursin in his role, having his contract renewed in 2022 and receiving a raise. It added that the nature of his role did not change after Hambursin’s arrival.

“He has always benefited from great freedom to develop and carry out the establishment’s projects,” it read. “His positioning and responsibilities have never been called into question.”

To further counter any implication that the MO.CO or Hambursin had tried to make Honoré more invisible, it cited the example of the Ana Mendieta exhibition he co-curated last summer, which apparently received 52 separate pieces of press coverage in which Honoré was mentioned 32 times. Hambursin, the museum said, was only named six times. It said Honoré’s name was put “at the top” of a range of exhibition materials from press releases to catalogs, and that he had been attached to five forthcoming exhibitions at the time of his death.

It also refuted the claim made by Le Quotidien de l’Art that Éric Penso, chairman of the board of directors, had blocked an administrative investigation into the causes of the suicide that had been proposed by the museum employees’ union. It said that it first requested more information about the reasons for the proposal but received never received any response.