Antoine Vitek: the founder of the Culturez-vous project

1. Hi Antoine! Can you introduce yourself and tell us what led you to create Culturez-vous?

Antoine: Hi Artsper! I'm a Parisian in my thirties with a passion for culture: I love exploring our heritage, its history… a real culture junkie!

I didn't study art history, but I've always been drawn to beautiful things. I created Culturez-vous 10 years ago, while working as a Digital Manager for a company specializing in combating e-commerce fraud (nothing to do with culture!), to share my discoveries and favorites and try to make culture more accessible.

Over the years, Culturez-vous has grown more and more, to the point that this passion project has become my main activity for a little over two years now.

2. How would you define Culturez-vous in a few words?

Antoine: Culturez-vous is a website that now features nearly 1,500 articles. Over the years, it's become a kind of database of great cultural tips!

It's also a community, since more than 320,000 internet users follow Culturez-vous on social media, where I try to share a dose of culture every day. I talk about exhibitions, the history of monuments, music, travel, live performances, and sometimes even gastronomy… It all depends on my current discoveries and favorites.

3. Your blog takes us on a journey while engaging our senses: you invite us to read, listen, taste, and travel. What's your favorite sense, and how do you like to stimulate it?

Antoine: My motto is that "curiosity is only a flaw for those who lack it" (laughs). I've always been interested in a multitude of things, which is why my content covers such a wide range of subjects.

But if I had to choose just one sense, I'd say sight. Images are often the first way we encounter art; it's by seeing the beauty of a monument or a work of art that we'll want to see it "in real life." I love photography, which I practice almost daily to document my reports, of course, but also for genuine pleasure. It's my way of trying to take a closer look at heritage and art.

4. You seem to be everywhere, we find your recommendations all over France, and even across Europe… Who is Culturez-vous aimed at: Parisians seeking adventure? Or, on the contrary, are you trying to speak to everyone?

Antoine: Since I live in Paris, my articles often take place in the capital, and I regularly give cultural tips and recommendations for Parisians. However, I travel a lot and very often publish travel guides in France or abroad, or features on museums and exhibitions outside of Paris.

Only 30% of my readers live in the Paris region. My travel guides, playlists, and features on monuments are, of course, aimed at everyone. For the past few years, I've also published most of my articles in English, which means that 15% of my readers are English speakers: culture knows no borders!

5. How do you select the recommendations you share with your community?

Antoine: My content reflects my travels. So, the selection is made randomly during my trips or strolls through Paris! There is, however, a strong focus on heritage (castles, monuments, crafts, etc.) in my posts because that's what attracts me most.

I also collaborate with cultural institutions or tourist destinations that commission content from me, so the choice of topics is sometimes influenced by these partnerships. On the other hand, I'm fortunate enough to be able to choose the institutions I work with, which allows me to set aside topics I'm less interested in or to exclude subjects I wouldn't want to recommend to my community.

6. Culturez-vous has been around since 2012. What are the major changes you've observed in the last 10 years, both in terms of culture and the ways you share your content?

Antoine: A lot has changed in the last 10 years. Museums have transformed themselves: they sometimes still have this dusty image that clings to them, but it's no longer justified! Today, exhibition designs are modern and engaging; digital tools have added another layer of richness to visits; and social media also allows for a closer connection with institutions.

Speaking of social media, there have also been many changes. The arrival of Instagram and then TikTok completely transformed the way I share my content, with images playing an increasingly important role. The lockdown also encouraged many internet users to talk about culture online to compensate for the closure of museums.

The downside is that the tendency to scroll endlessly on social media sometimes lowers the quality of published content. However, social media doesn't spell the end for "traditional" websites: traffic to my blog has tripled in three years. Writing and "rich" content are not dead yet, and thankfully so!

"TikTok is attracting more and more subscribers, but we need to keep a step back: form takes precedence over substance."

7. What's the last exhibition or museum you visited that particularly moved you?

Antoine: I was absolutely captivated by the Army Health Service Museum at Val-de-Grâce. It's still too little known, but it's fascinating and inexpensive (€5). It allows you to discover the evolution of wartime medicine while enjoying the magnificent architecture of Val-de-Grâce and its church. It's an absolute must-see.

8. And finally, do you have any upcoming projects you'd like to tell us about?

Antoine: It's more of a current topic. I'm relaunching a project I put on hold during the pandemic: visits with my community. Every month, I offer a small-group tour of a cultural site for my followers. These are free visits that provide a friendly opportunity to explore an exhibition, museum, or monument. It allows me to meet my followers and make social media truly social!

If you'd like to participate, I announce these visits about a week in advance on my social media. So keep a close eye on my posts! And I hope to see you there someday…

Their favorite artworks