Since the end of April, Carlo Blum has served as interim director of the Centre national de l’audiovisuel (CNA) in Dudelange. He discussed his role, which is set to continue until at least the end of October, with RTL on Monday morning.
Reflecting on his first weeks in the post, Blum described the experience as both intense and rewarding. He highlighted the expertise of the CNA’s team and emphasised the importance of direct dialogue with staff to better understand the situation within the institution. Despite dividing his time equally between the CNA and his ongoing position as deputy director at the National Library of Luxembourg (BNL), Blum sees his primary responsibility as ensuring the smooth daily operation of the CNA. At the same time, he is working on defining the profile for a future permanent director, who will be tasked with leading the organisation in the long term.
A key challenge facing Blum is to improve the working environment at the CNA, which has been clouded by allegations of bullying and a recent internal study describing problematic management and a climate of fear. Blum said he takes these accusations very seriously: “When it comes to bullying or harassment, these are often issues that happen behind closed doors and are repetitive. The main thing is to get out of such an environment.” To address this, the CNA is introducing training sessions and information meetings to clarify what is considered acceptable behaviour and how staff can report problems. Above all, Blum stressed the need to re-establish respect for human dignity within the workplace.
In recent months, the The Family of Man exhibition in Clervaux has come under scrutiny after issues with humidity were detected in the gallery. As a result, an independent restorer has been commissioned to assess the condition of the photographs. According to Blum, there is currently no definitive evidence that the original photos have been damaged by humidity. Should any damage be discovered, restoration will be necessary, he confirmed. In addition, a second, alternative climate control system is being installed to better monitor and regulate temperature and humidity levels in the exhibition space.
Blum compared the exhibition to an old car, noting that after 15 or 16 years, some parts naturally need to be replaced. He underlined the importance of keeping the UNESCO-listed exhibition open, given its role in balancing preservation needs with its economic significance for Clervaux: the exhibition attracts around 17,000 visitors to the region each year. Blum also mentioned the necessity of eventually creating a digital copy of The Family of Man, especially with a view to its 150th anniversary in 2029, which could see the exhibition go on tour.
As a trained computer scientist and deputy director of the BNL, Blum aims to apply his digital expertise to his work at the CNA. “What I have observed is that, when it comes to research, only data that is available in digital form is truly accessible,” he explained. As such, digitalisation is a top priority. The CNA has already invested in new equipment for digitising film and audio documents, with plans for these machines to be operational this year. In the long term, the use of artificial intelligence solutions could help automatically transcribe archival material, making it more accessible. Blum noted the wealth of interesting documents in Luxembourg’s multilingual context and said the goal was to make the CNA’s collections visible to researchers across Europe.
In recent years, the CNA consolidated its various archive departments, but the complex migration of data and objects caused a significant backlog. Resources had to be diverted to address this, resulting in temporarily limited access to the archives. According to Blum, normal access was restored at the beginning of this year, although much work remains to be done to process and organise the data.
Blum declined to say whether he would consider seeking the permanent directorship, emphasising instead his enduring commitment to the BNL, where he has led major digitalisation and transformation projects over the years. For now, his priority is to ensure a transparent recruitment process for the CNA’s future leadership.
The full interview with Carlo Blum was broadcast on Monday morning’s Invité vun der Redaktioun, which airs every weekday at 8am on RTL Radio Luxembourg, and is also available via livestream on RTL.lu and the RTL app (audio and video). The programme can subsequently be accessed on replay via RTL.lu and RTL Play.
