Damien Bigot

Born in Brittany, France and having lived all around the world, Damien Bigot has become a specialist in cultural diplomacy, international relations, and institutional administration for the arts. After working for several years in Italy (Villa Medici and Rome Music Foundation), he moved to Israel to manage the French Institute (Institut français) for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then for three years in Lebanon as Regional Director, where he started several different cultural and art initiatives. Damien Bigot was Director of Cultural Affairs of the City of Montrouge (France), and was a regular Conference Speaker for the Arts, Science, and Technology University in Beirut. He became a representative for the Middle East at Cultural Heritage Without Borders (Patrimoine Sans Frontière), an international organization, official partner of the UNESCO, that mobilizes the notion of cultural heritage as a means to respond to the demands of local populations (post-crisis situations and social exclusion). In this role, he worked to utilize the power of cultural heritage as a means to respond to the demands of local populations.