Art museums and cultural monuments in France, including the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Arc de Triomphe, are partially or fully closed to the public today, September 10, in response to a country-wide labor strike over proposed government spending cuts.The work stoppage follows the collapse of the French government at the beginning of the week, when Prime Minister François Bayrou lost a confidence vote in parliament and was subsequently forced to resign. In July, Bayrou had proposed a controversial plan to reduce the country’s ballooning budget deficit by almost €44 billion (~$51.46 billion) by implementing austerity measures like scrapping two public holidays and freezing pension and welfare payments at 2025 levels, forgoing the typical cost-of-living increase. He is now the fourth prime minister to be ousted from the government in less than two years.Throughout France, workers across sectors, including culture and transportation, participated in mass demonstrations today as part of the growing “Bloquons Tout” (“Let’s Block Everything”) movement, which aims to bring the country’s economy to a standstill in protest of Bayrou’s proposed budget cuts. “Graphic designers, artists, illustrators — let’s contribute through our images to help grow this movement that seeks to put a stop to neoliberal and capitalist policies that destroy our rights, ravage the planet, enrich the wealthy, and pave the way for the far right,” read an Instagram post by the arts and design union SNAPcgt that decried the government’s policies as “extreme and caricatured.”In response, major cultural institutions have shuttered their doors or partially closed.“Due to a social movement, certain rooms of the Louvre Museum are exceptionally closed,” the Louvre Museum announced on X earlier today. The Eugène Delacroix Museum, an affiliated studio museum housed in the 19th-century painter’s former residence and workspace, closed completely. The Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris also closed entirely today, according to a post on the institution’s Instagram story. The Musée d’Orsay also announced yesterday on Facebook that it could not “guarantee … full or partial opening” due to the strikes. The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon told Libération that some spaces in the museum would be closed. The strikes also affected major monuments and historic sites, some of which became gathering places for demonstrators like the Fontaine du Palmier and the Place de la République. The Arc de Triomphe announced its closure on its Instagram story, adding that it would automatically refund online ticket holders. Château de Versailles announced on Facebook that while its castle, gardens, and park would remain open, the Trianon Estate and gardens were closed.