My New Heroes: the Untergunther

I heard the most remarkable news story on CBC radio this evening (see a print version here, from The Guardian). It concerned a group of French "cultural guerillas" who sneaked into the Panthéon in Paris after hours to undertake the illicit repair of an old, broken clock. The group is called the Untergunther, and their mission is to restore France's cultural heritage on the sly. Apparently, they constitute the "restoration cell" (!) of a wider clandestine cultural movement in Paris called the UX, whose members do things like break into public buildings at night to stage cultural events.

The Untergunther seem to be drawn to projects which the French state has neglected - hence the Panthéon's broken clock, which had been left to rust since the 1960s. Members got themselves locked into the building one evening, set up a secret workshop under the eaves, and laboured for a year on the restoration, under the direction of a professional clockmaker. Much to the embarrassment of bureaucrats, they were never discovered by security and were only revealed when they contacted the Panthéon's officials themselves, to point out what they had done so that the repaired clock could henceforth be properly maintained.

I'm utterly taken by this story. I guess you could call it cultural vigilantism. Obviously it's not something to be encouraged, but secretly I love the idea of such people, who are so committed to cultural heritage that they brazenly circumvent red tape and act where the state cannot. Naturally, the Untergunther are already at work on their next project - the details of which are being closely guarded, for obvious reasons. I wonder what it will be?

File this one under "Completely Awesome...Please Can I Hang Out With You Guys?"