kamel mennour
interview by OLIVIER ZAHM
portrait by KATJA RAHLWES
style by LAËTITIA GIMENEZ
the gallery that put the city on the
map by not trying to be everywhere
and by focusing on what paris can
offer the art world
OLIVIER ZAHM — So, tell me the story of this gallery you set up in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
KAMEL MENNOUR — I’ve been here for 10 years. In the Hôtel de la Vieuville, a 17th-century townhouse that I fell in love with the moment I saw it. Before I came along, it was the home of a very old bibliophile, and in the more distant past, there were literary salons. He was a man who collected and sold fine old French books with leather covers, treasures for lovers of antique tomes. There was wood paneling and old bookcases all wedged together and filled with books everywhere. Everything was…