The Coordination de la Défense de Versailles (CDV) doesn’t pull any punches when expressing its opposition to the upcoming exhibition of Japanese Pop artist Takashi Murakami at the Château of Versailles. Having been formed to press (unsuccessfully) for the cancellation of a Jeff Koons show in the palace in 2008, the organization now condemns what it calls "the veritable ‘murder’ of our heritage, our artistic identity, and our most sacred culture."

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With the support of Prince Sixte-Henri de Bourbon, a descendant of Louis XIV, the CDV is trying to preserve the Sun King’s palace from the scandalous intrusion of contemporary art and is making a rather unusual legal argument: seeing Louis XIV as the "author" of the château, the organization claims that intellectual property rights prevent his work from being altered or distorted. This reasoning is challenged by the fact that the Château of Versailles is a public institution belonging to the people of France that is overseen by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication.

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At the root of the CDV’s objections is an urge to protect classical French heritage from what the organization sees as the nefarious effects of globalization and Americanization, which it argues promotes inferior aesthetics and is motivated by commercial interests. The president of the national site of Versailles, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, told Agence France-Presse that the protests come from far-right circles who are nostalgic for pre-Revolutionary France.

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The principal sponsor of the show is the Qatar Museums Authority, whose three national museums do not have contemporary art collections. But the Qatar royal family and its head, Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, are voracious collectors of contemporary art, having acquired Damien Hirsts stainless steel and glass cabinet, "Lullaby Spring," in 2007, in a £9.7 million ($19.3 million) purchase that set a record price for a work by a living European artist sold at auction. It is not known whether the Al-Thani family owns any works by Murakami.

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The exhibition will display 22 works by Murakami in the château and gardens, including 11 pieces created especially for the occasion. One of his psychedelic flower sculptures, "Flower Matango," will be featured, along with other sculptures, paintings, and installations. Although the exhibition will not include any pornographic works by Murakami, the organization Versailles mon amour ("Versailles, My Love") has cited such works in order to rally others to its effort to prevent the exhibition from taking place.

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While opponents of the exhibition are offended by the clash between the Japanese pop artist’s aesthetic and the classical harmony of the château, Aillagon finds the exhibition to be an interesting juxtaposition of two art-world celebrities — Murakami and Versailles — who, he argues, may not be as far apart as they seem. He told a a local blog, "You know, the Hall of Mirrors [in Versailles] is a kind of manga, a comic strip for the glory of the king’s reign."