DOSSIER DE PRESSE - Diplomatie
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PRESS RELEASE
FOREWORD
The creation of the musée du quai Branly, an original institution entirely dedicated to the arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, is the result of a political desire to see justice rendered to non-European cultures, to recognize the place their artistic expressions occupies in our cultural heritage, and also to acknowledge the debt we owe to the societies that produced them, as well as to their countries of origin, with many of which France has especially close ties.
We are putting an end here to a long history of disregard, and giving just consideration to art forms and civilizations too long ignored or misunderstood – giving back their dignity to peoples too often looked down upon, oppressed, sometimes even annihilated by arrogance, ignorance, stupidity and blindness.
A new type of cultural and scientific institution, at once museum, cultural center, and a body for research and for teaching, the musée du quai Branly stands as a rejection of any proclaimed hierarchy in the arts, or in the peoples of the world. It celebrates the universality of the human spirit through the extraordinary diversity of its cultural expressions.
In its permanent branch at the Pavillon des sessions in the Musée du Louvre, in the heart of the world’s greatest museum, it presents, side by side with the greatest masterpieces of Western art, masterpieces of African, Asian, Oceanian and American art. With his incomparable eye for excellence, his vast knowledge, and also his generous and unquenchable passion for man’s humanity, Jacques Kerchache selected items of truly exceptional quality, which are presented in a context that allows the full force of their beauty to shine forth. Here, the works themselves come first and foremost, along with the wealth of history they embody and the mystery that surrounds them, striking in their unfamiliarity, but also for the deep resonances they awaken within us.
Housed in the quai Branly building designed by the architect Jean Nouvel, the museum invites us to embrace the full complexity of the works on exhibition and of the cultures from which they came. A range of different viewpoints and approaches encourages us to increase our knowledge, to become more demanding of ourselves, to look at the world in new and ever-changing ways and so reach fresh understanding of the genius of non-European civilizations. A school of multiple disciplines, the musée du quai Branly stands at the heart of a moral requirement to look upon the Other with greater understanding, and also with greater openness of mind.
By doing so, the museum seeks to position itself at the heart of dialogue between cultures and civilizations, dialogue made possible by that fragment of the universal that each one of us carries within, and rendered fruitful by the irreducible uniqueness of each individual. A necessary dialogue indeed, in times when humanity is finally becoming aware of its unity, but also when the shadow of enforced uniformity alienates threatened identities, sometimes at the risk of division and conflict.
Throughout its history, France has always sought to instill universal values, but it has also learned the value of otherness. Dialogue between cultures and civilizations is therefore altogether in line with its vocation. It is for this reason that, well aware of its responsibilities both to the world and to history, it seeks untiringly to give dialogue a chance to work in combating the unacceptable excesses of contempt, hostility and hatred. And the musée du quai Branly seeks, perhaps above all else, to be the standard bearer of this ambition.
Jacques CHIRAC
SUMMARY
A museographic, scientific and cultural institution
dedicated to the dialogue between cultures and civilizations
The project : heightening public awareness of the equal dignity of all cultures
A bridge museum
Museography page 5
Africa page 7
Asia page 9
Océania page 11
Américas page 12
Four exceptional collections page 14
The pavillon des sessions page 16
Developing and enriching the musée du quai Branly heritage page 17
An information system page 18
The reserve collections page 19
The work site for the collections page 20
Loans and partnerships page 21
The mediatheque page 22
Research and education page 23
A multi-faceted cultural institution
A cultural offer page 26
Theatre, dance and music page 27
Lectures and colloquiums page 29
The public page 30
The publication policy page 32
Patronage page 33
An architecture designed around the collections
Jean Nouvel’s letter of intent for the international architecture competition (1999)
A composite museum
Founding principles page 38
4 buildings, 1 museum page 39
Diversity as a guiding principle page 41
a museum that respect its immediate and overall environment page 42
The garden page 43
Programme 2006 - 2007 page 44
CIWARA – African chimera page 49
« We have eaten the forest… », Georges Condominas au Vietnam page 50
« Qu’est-ce qu’un Corps ? » page 51
Useful information page 52
Organization page 55
Patrons and donators page 58
A bridge museum
A museographic, scientific and cultural institution
dedicated to the dialogue between cultures and civilizations
A multi-faceted cultural institution
The Musée du quai Branly is an expression of the deeply held conviction that mankind can only progress by mutual respect and dialogue; that it can only fulfill itself through peaceful and enriching encounters with the Other – with their experience, with their traditions, and with their values. The museum will be a center for such encounters, between cultures, between civilizations, and between peoples. It will counter a prevalent but limited and unjust vision of human history, and accord Tribal Arts their true place – an immeasurable and essential place – in the story of mankind. Here, their finest expressions will be presented for visitors to discover and admire.
Jacques Chirac, President of the Republic,
speaking on the occasion of his visit to the construction site of the musée du quai Branly,
Friday 15 October 2004
The project :
heightening public awareness of the equal dignity of all cultures
Deeply convinced of the importance of differences and of dialogue between cultures, Jacques Chirac has always been aware of the often tragic destiny of tribal peoples. When he was Mayor of Paris, he entrusted Jacques Kerchache, a great traveler and collector with an unerring eye for quality, with the task of organizing a major exhibition devoted to the Taino Indians of Arawak origin, an exhibition that also exposed the other face of the conquest of America, the fifth centenary of which was being celebrated at the time.
When he became President of the Republic in 1995, Jacques Chirac asked Jacques Friedmann to suggest ways of seeing justice rendered to tribal civilizations and peoples through presentation of their cultural and artistic expression. Taken in 1996, the decision to create a new museographic and scientific institution devoted to the arts and civilizations of Africa,, Asia, Oceania and the Americas was the fruit of this desire to celebrate the universality of human genius through the diversity of its art forms, and to encourage us to look afresh at other cultures and civilizations, with new respect and greater willingness to share their experience and engage in dialogue with them.
In 2000, the ‘branch’ at the Pavillon des Sessions in the Louvre was opened, with a 1400 m² surface area designed by the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Here, some 120 masterpieces of African, Asian, Oceanic and American art are on exhibition, selected by Jacques Kerchache, and presented to maximum effect in surroundings where their aesthetic power is allowed to speak for itself. There is much symbolism in the fact that these remarkable works stand side by side with the great masterpieces of Western art conserved in the Musée du Louvre.
In order to present the richness of national collections in all its glory, and to encourage better understanding of the complexity of the cultures and civilizations that produced the works they contain, the decision to build a new museum housing under one roof the collections of the Musée national des arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie and those of the Musée de l’Homme ethnology laboratory, a total of almost 300,000 artifacts in all, was taken definitively at the Cabinet Meeting of 29 July 1998. In December of the same year, the Musée du quai Branly was created as a public entity under the auspices of the Minister of Culture and the Minister of Higher Education and Research, with Stéphane Martin appointed as its Managing Director. This new institution has a dual vocation: to conserve and exhibit its collections, and to promote research and teaching on the works they contain and on the societies from which they came.
1995
May
The President of the Republic, Jacques Chirac, sets up a commission to reflect upon the place of primitive art in French museums, chaired by Jacques Friedmann.
1996
October
The President of the Republic, Jacques Chirac, decides to create a Museum of Arts and Civilisations in Paris, as well as to open galleries in the palais du Louvre to exhibit masterpieces from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas.
1997
February
Creation of the preparatory mission of the musée de l’Homme, des Arts et des Civilisations, in the form of a non-profit association (Law of 1901) chaired by Jacques Friedmann.
1998
March
Selection of Jean-Michel Wilmotte’s project to design the pavillon des Sessions at the palais du Louvre.
May
Implementation of the acquisitions policy for art works.
June
Beginning of the renovation of the pavillon des Sessions at the palais du Louvre.
July
The President of the Republic, in agreement with Lionel Jospin’s government, selects a site for the future museum, located at 29/55 quai Branly, Paris (7th arrondissement).
December
Creation of the musée du quai Branly as an Etablissement Public, a state-owned corporation with administrative and contracting powers, under the duel supervision of the Minister of Culture and Communications and the Minister of Education, Research and Technology. Appointment, in Cabinet meeting, of its President, Stéphane Martin. The preparatory mission ends its activities.
1999
January
Launch of an international competition for the construction of the musée du quai Branly.
December
The project tendered by Architectures Jean Nouvel, AJN-OTH Bâtiment-Ingérop, wins the architectural competition.
2000
April
Inauguration of the pavillon des Sessions at the musée du Louvre, exhibiting over 100 masterpieces from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, from national and regional collections, as well as from public collections of their countries of origin.
June
Deposition of building license. Start-up of the website.
2001
January
Obtaining of building license.
September
Installation of teams at the Berlier industrial hotel, 15 rue Jean-Baptiste Berlier in the 13th arrondissement.
October
Start of construction work on the quai Branly site and beginning of treatment campaign of collections from the musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, and the ethnology laboratory of the musée de l’Homme.
2002
June
First archaeological digs campaign (INRAP – National Archaeological Research Institute) on the construction site.
July
Completion of the first treatment campaign (60,000 artefacts).
November
Opening of “Kodiak, Alaska”, the musée du quai Branly’s first exhibition, and the final one for the musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie.
2003
January
Closing of the musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie.
December
Completion of the classification of the library collections of the musée de l’Homme and the musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie.
2004
June
Completion of acquisitions for the mediatheque and of collection documentation binding and digitisation operations. Completion of preparation of artefacts.
July
New website goes on line.
September
Delivery of the Auvent and Branly administrative buildings.
October
Completion of the second collections treatment campaign.
December
Museum teams move from rue Jean-Baptiste Berlier to the Branly and Auvent buildings.
2005
Autumn
Delivery of museum building and museographic fixtures and fittings. Delivery of reserves.
Winter
Completion of display, equipment and artefacts installation. Completion of multimedia programmes installation.
2006
23 June
Opening of the musée du quai Branly to the public.
A BRIDGE MUSEUM
Museography page 5
Africa page 7
Asia page 9
Océania page 11
Américas page 12
Four exceptional collections page 14
The pavillon des sessions page 16
Developing and enriching the musée du quai Branly heritage page 17
An information system page 18
The reserve collections page 19
The work site for the collections page 20
Loans and partnerships page 21
The mediatheque page 22
Research and education page 23
The creation of the Mmusée du quai Branly has been an adventure ten years in the making – ten years of patiently bringing to fruition , careful breathing life into the decision first announced by the President of the Republic ’s decision, first announced in 1995, to create a museum devoted to the arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. The project has sought to bring into being achieve an entity worthy of the ambition that inspired it – to bear witness to the plurality of art by encouraging us to look afresh at extranon-European arts and the cultures that produce them.
The project was implemented in two phases, the first being the opening of the pavillon des Sessions, at the Louvre, in April 2000. By exposing visitors fromthroughout the four corners of the world to one hundred and twenty masterpieces selected for their aesthetic appeal and evocative power, the pavillon des Sessions rooms constitute a manifesto in themselves, an initial response to the debt that Western cultural institutions owe to non-European societies.
With over 3 million visitors in 5 years, the pavillon des Sessions is successfully fulfilling to perfection its role mission of promoting attention to awareness and recognition of such arts, helping us to discover the power and beauty inherent in them. The rooms at the Louvre will remain open after the inauguration of the Mmusée du quai Branly, and will continue to bear witness evidenceto the power and diversity of art works produced by extra-European peoples peoples from far off lands.
The project’s second major phase sprang from the decision to devote specific premises special rooms to the exhibition of works from French collections under the best possible conditions, and to the presentation of depict the cultures from which they came. Under the dual supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Communications and the Ministry of National Education, Research and Technology, the Mmusée du quai Branly brings together, within the walls of Jean Nouvel’s beautifully designed building, the collections housed at the musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie and those from the ethnology laboratory of the musée de l’Homme within the walls of Jean Nouvel’s beautifully designed building. As a museum of arts and civilisations, it has a dual twofold vocation – conservation and exhibition of collections, and contribution to research and teaching education.
Some 3,500 works out of the 300,000 contained in the collections will be on permanent public view permanent public view as from starting this coming June, constituting the museum’s permanent exhibition “‘reference display area”.’. Organised both geographically and thematically, this will take the visitor on a journey across the world’s other continents and highlight a number of major themes running through the collections. A larger number of items will of course be put on public view during temporary exhibitions, to which half of the total exhibition area is devoted. Half of the total exhibition area is devoted to temporary exhibitions and a number of items will, of course, be put on public display periodically. Ten or so temporary exhibitions will be scheduled per year with appointed commissioners, at least half of whom will be brought in from outside the museum.
There will be ten or so of these per year, each with its own commissioner – at least half of whom will be consultants brought in from outside the museum.
Major emphasis is placed on lectures, teaching and research– an activity , activities designed to meet two objectives: developing the production of scientific ideas and helping to guide design the conception of exhibitions and events aimed at the general public.
Music, dance and cinema play an equally important role. Furthermore, the museum’s architectural design takes into accountallows thefor the particular significance allotted to of contemporary art, as Jean Nouvel had the idea of integrating works by eight Aborigine artists, specially designed for the museum, on the ceilings and frontage of the rue de l’Université building.
The collections stir awaken new emotions in the public, helping to raise its curiosity and to bring recognition of the genius of non-European civilisations. They remind us that our history is closely linked to those of the countries that produced these works.
Ten years after preparations began At the end of these ten years of preparation, the musée musée du quai Branly opens its doors to the public on 23 June, 23rd this year. Once the natural curiosityinitial excitement aroused by about the opening of a new cultural institution in Paris has abated, it is up to visitors to let us know if ourwhether our choices have been wisejudicious ones and whether they live up to their expectationsif what we offer lives up to their expectations. TheyThe public will tell us will have the final word whether if the museum is truly the centre of exchange and dialogue which that we hope to provide it becomes.
Stéphane MARTIN
musEographY
accessibility of collections, a condition for creation of a new appreciation
To combine maximum accessibility of collections with a new museographic approach – such was the task imposed upon the musée du quai Branly, to provide the public with a full range of means to help them discover and come to understand the arts and civilisations of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas.
The museographic principle behind the musée du quai Branly is based upon a new relationship with the works themselves – a relationship that has been developing over the past fifteen years in those human sciences dedicated to non-European arts and civilisations: the increasingly marked disappearance of occidental centrism and gradual attenuation of any clear division between anthropology and art history, a change of perspective partly brought about by the distancing in time of the colonial period.
In this context, the musée du quai Branly museography, as orchestrated by Germain Viatte and Jean Nouvel, aims to stir new emotions, incite public interest, and bring recognition to the genius of non-European civilisations.
Complementary museography
A number of guiding principles have been developed for museographic design, both as regards the permanent collections area and those devoted to temporary exhibitions, with a view to matching architectural constraints and techniques as far as possible to the needs and desires expressed by curators in terms of exhibiting works. The approach taken keeps in mind the dynamics of exhibition rotation, and enables frequent changes in museography, and a consequent increase in the number of visitors.
The collections area is a vast unpartitioned space exhibiting almost 3,500 works and divided up into four intercommunicating zones – one for each continent, Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas – all visible from any part of the area. Each zone is organised according to its own principles, and the four are connected by transversals creating places of exchange between civilisations, as with Insulindia, for example, or the Machrek-Maghreb rapprochement. One can, therefore, let the eye wander – guided simply by geographical and civilisation pointers.
Creation of a bridge between yesterday and today
Works of many different kinds are exhibited in each zone, from the most everyday artefacts to artistic masterpieces, always following an approach that mingles the aesthetic with the didactic. Lighting shows off the artefacts at their aesthetic best, while a range of features – texts, exhibit label, multimedia screens, etc. – are close at hand to help contextualise the work and provide the visitor with all available scientific information. Emotion and subjectivity have been taken into account from the genesis of the museographic project, helping as they do to bring the beholder to an acceptance and understanding of the unfamiliar.
An overhanging suspended Gallery of anthropological information, containing multimedia equipment and a wealth of available data, enables those who so wish to continue the journey they began in the collections area.
Apart from its permanent collections and temporary exhibitions, the museum also has the mission of displaying and promoting current expressions of the arts and civilisations of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. Contemporary arts, dance, music and traditional or modern performances – the museum welcomes them all to nurture public awareness. In this regard, museum policy is to provide keys to understanding while letting the emotions run wild.
Trinh T. Minh-ha, a contemporary work leading into the collections area
Bearing witness to the importance given to contemporary art in all aspects of the musée du quai Branly, Trinh T. Minh-ha, the Vietnam born film and video director, writer and composer, has created a multiple-entry multimedia work entitled “L’Autre Marche” (The Other Way), running right along the Ramp. The work accompanies the visitor to the world of traditional cultures presented in the museum, and leads him back out again at the end of his visit. This lead-in is in three stages, transition, transformation, and opening – to be understood in both senses – and is designed to bring about an unconscious change in perception.
The transversals: putting the collections into perspective
With its objective of putting as much as possible of its collections before the public eye, and of ensuring that visitors are given maximum assistance in understanding the similarities and difference between cultures, the musée du quai Branly has adopted a key museographic principle: the transversals. Each of the four geographical zones contains one or more thematic areas highlighting the constants and dissimilarities that exist in the artefacts on exhibition, beyond the dictates of space and time: the transversals of Oceanian tapa and masks, of African textiles and musical instruments, of Asian clothing, and of transformations in the Americas.
> La Bouche du Roi, by Romuald Hazoumé
Contemporary art is to be found among the collections, in the temporary exhibition areas, on the Ramp, and also along the Theatre Promenade which runs between the main auditorium and the Open-Air Theatre. Between 11 September and 13 November 2006, this area will house a creation by the Beninian artist Romuald Hazoumé entitled “La Bouche du Roi” (The King’s Mouth). At ground level, over 300 masks sculpted into petrol cans take the form of a boat, evoking the plight of slaves being transported in slave-trade vessels. A film is projected on to the wall denouncing fuel trafficking across the Benin-Nigeria border. The public, whether seated or strolling around the masks, will be drawn in by this striking metaphor, whereby the slave is incarnated as the petrol can while the trafficker re-enacts the behaviour of the slaver. The current exploitation of Africa’s resources is put into perspective by a type of “trade” which one thought had been done away with.
A visitor’s itinerary undulating between continents
Whether plumed in South America or devouring virgins in Africa, the snake is feared and venerated on all five continents. The “Serpent” (Snake), Jean Nouvel’s contribution to the museography, and sponsored by the Schneider Electric group, is the name given to a central area undulating over the 200 metres of the collections area and surrounding the “Rivière” (River), a circulation zone and museographic area in itself. Bordering each geographical zone, this long leather structure incorporates numerous video screens, loudspeakers, central processing units and a binocular system for viewing in 3D, constituting a close-at-hand complementary area for information on the works exhibited. It is made up of 162 metal framework modules, assembled and covered with scarified leather. Of variable thickness, it contains high and low seating, making it also into a rest area for visitors.
Jean-Pierre MOHEN,
Director of the Heritages and
Collections Department
Yves LE FUR, Deputy
Director responsible for
permanent collections
AfriCA
AN ENTIRE continent ON VIEW
The musée du quai Branly houses one of the world’s largest collections of African arts, with almost 70,000 items from the Maghreb, sub-Saharan Africa, and Madagascar. On a surface area of some 1,200 m2, the visitor has access to a thousand works of exceptional richness and variety, brought together for the first time under the same roof, and enabling fertile relationships to be made between styles, cultures and histories.
The museography of the African collections was designed by a working party set up in 1999 bringing together teams from the musée de l’Homme and the musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie. The visitor is provided with two possible approaches: a geographical itinerary, taking him across the continent from North to South, and a more thematic itinerary helping him discover the works according to their use, techniques and creation. This approach takes advantage of some remarkably original exhibition areas – a multitude of “boxes” projecting from the north façade, forming small study rooms devoted to particular families of artefacts or to specific themes, such as divination.
A number of essential features also help to facilitate understanding of the works and their meaning, and of the history of the region concerned and its contacts with other cultures. Items on display are put into context with the help of maps, extracts from travellers’ tales, and a mass of audiovisual and photographic documents available on multimedia equipment.
The different faces of North Africa
The geographical itinerary for the African collections begins in North Africa, with an area laid out in three sections. The first presents urban arts, with an exhibition of superb furniture and embroidery work. The second concentrates on rural arts, with a fine selection of carpets, wooden vessels, pottery and jewellery, alongside numerous other artefacts from the little known Berber culture. The third and last is devoted to nomadic arts and their links with rural civilisations and sub-Saharan Africa.
Connections and transitions between the three sections are made by thematic displays in which, for example, the accent might be on history and prehistory, expression of the sacred (illustrated by Koranic and Hebraic tablets), marriage, myths, or games.
Journeying in sub-Saharan space-time…
The itinerary continues with the sub-Saharan African collections, largely made up of items from Mali, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Gabon and the Congo. Two transversals bring together textiles and musical instruments from throughout the continent, classed by technique, along the entire length of the area. The main gallery is crisscrossed by a series of statues illustrating the many various ways in which the human body is represented in this part of the world.
Among other major attractions in this zone are the prominence given to “mask societies” and the evocation of the Dakar-Djibouti mission led by Marcel Griaule, considered as the starting-point for French ethnology. Contemporary arts and cultures are also highlighted by means of multimedia aids creating a dialogue between past and present.
The journey continues over a third section devoted to southern, equatorial and central Africa, and to Madagascar. The Equatorial African collections are of particularly early date, having been originally housed at the Trocadero Museum of Ethnology, and resulting from such famous expeditions as those made by Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, in the late 19th century. Special attention has been paid to acquisition of artefacts for the central, eastern and southern African collection and, finally, Ethiopia is strongly represented by a rare group of exceptionally fine rural frescoes from the Gondar region, collected by Marcel Griaule. This area puts very early forms of Christianity side by side with animist practices.
The Harter legacy
The collection bestowed by Pierre Harter (1928-1991), doctor and leading specialist in the arts of Cameroon, is an invaluable contribution to the museum’s heritage, and has been accorded a very special place within its walls. The legacy comprises around fifty items – masks and sculptures – many of which are truly exceptional. The terms of the legacy stipulate that the collection may only be put on display in its entirety, and has therefore been allotted its own exhibition area in the museum.
Hélène JOUBERT,
Head of the heritage
unit of the Africa collections
Marie-France VIVIER,
Head of the North Africa collections
Aurélien GABORIT,
Responsible for Africa collections
Uuder the head of the heritage unit
of the Africa collections
Gaëlle BEAUJEAN-BALTZER,
Responsible for Africa collections
under the head of the heritage unit
of the Africa collections
AsiA
a kaleidoscopic revelation of the continent’s diversity
Laid out around a transversal of textiles, the Asia zone highlights many major religious and cultural aspects of the life of peoples inhabiting this vast region.
The Asia collections at the musée du quai Branly are invaluable evidence of the continent’s cultures in the late 19th century and, in particular, the 20th century. The museographic programme’s guiding principle is to provide a fresh look at the region’s popular arts and civilisations – a contemporary ethnographic view, continuing that offered by the musée Guimet and the Louvre, both of which are devoted to the continent’s ancient civilisations.
Presentation of a range of grouped artefacts
The Asia collection covers a vast zone – age-old civilisations extending from Siberia to Central Asia and from the Middle East to Japan, by way of India and China. Museography does not seek to be exhaustive – hardly possible – but rather to present significant items, exhibiting the collections’ most representative artefacts, those that most appositely reveal the themes and societies evoked here. Following an itinerary that moves from east to west, the visitor can acquaint himself, for example, with Japanese stencil decoration, the many forms of Buddhism in South-East Asia and the Himalayas, Han China, the minorities, myths and rituals of India, the nomadic horsemen of Central Asia, the meaning of adornments and the symbolism of weapons in the East, and Near-Eastern beliefs and religious cults… A range of themes highlight the developments, exchanges and transformations of these peoples, who are too often seen as being fixed in a traditional culture outside the reach of history.
Finally, the rich collections from what was once French Indochina provide a wide-ranging look at the cultures of South-East Asia. Rice is the dominant theme here, along with crop farming, village Buddhism, and popular religious cults – especially those centred around buffalo sacrifice, a practice specific to these particular cultures. Such major themes are presented around a central bay focusing on the peoples of Asia, exhibiting the museum’s collection of Asian textiles, which has gained a worldwide reputation.
The textiles transversal: a rich and highly reputed collection
The musée du quai Branly textiles collection is made up of items from all over the world, and from every historical era. Asia is particularly well represented, with a wide variety of pieces ancient and modern, common and rare. All express affirmations of social, regional or religious identities and are of particular ethnological and artistic interest, evident in the Asia zone transversal in which they are exhibited – the use of the elm in a Japanese Ainu dress, for example, or the elaborate hairstyles of South-East Asian children and married women, the extraordinary technique of ikat in continental and insular Asia, or the variety to be found in eastern garments, symbols of communal identity come down from very ancient clothing traditions.
Christine HEMMET,
Head of the heritage unit
of the Asia collections
Hana CHIDIAC,
Head of the “Middle-East speciality” collections
Daria CEVOLI,
Responsible for Asia collections
under the head of the heritage unit
of the Asia collections
OcEaniA
A crossroad of diverse influences
The musée du quai Branly has chosen to exhibit works from Oceania in terms of their geographical origin, highlighting at the same time a range of themes running through the Pacific regions represented. Visitors will thus acquaint themselves with artefacts from Melanesia, Polynesia, Australia and Insulindia, gathered together from historic collections made by 19th century travellers and from ethnographic missions, and resulting from an acquisitions policy that seeks to enrich collections with works of major interest.
Melanesia
The Melanesian area commences with a spectacular group of works from the great island of New Guinea and associated with the “men’s house” or ceremonial house. A more intimate space is reserved for exhibition of artefacts connected with initiation rites and relationships with ancestor beings. Such themes as war, headhunting and funeral rites punctuate a journey taking the visitor from Papua New Guinea to the Solomon Islands. Types of money and adornments used in exchanges and rituals demonstrate the importance attached to prestige in these societies, such as artefacts emblematic of the grade system from the islands of Vanuatu and the Kanak chiefdoms of New Caledonia.
Polynesia
The “Carrefour des peuples” (Crossroads of Peoples) acts as a hyphen between Melanesia and Polynesia, and is a remarkable feature presenting the history of this vast “sea of islands” through archaeology, Oceanian peoples, and sailing techniques.
Throughout his Polynesian journey, the visitor is led to discover the relationships between men and their gods, a discovery followed up by displays of items utilised in body arts – artefacts fashioned from feathers, tortoiseshell or mother-of-pearl, all sacred materials and signs of high rank.
The great diversity of styles in this region is demonstrated by the elegant design of kava bowls (kava being a ceremonial drink) and headrests, as it is in the great skill evident in the carved decorations of Maori art in New Zealand.
Australia
Aboriginal art from the north and central desert of Australia is a prominent feature of Oceania museography. The “Bark Room” contains an exhibition of fifty or so eucalyptus bark paintings collected in Arnhem Land in the 1960s by Karel Kupka. Multimedia equipment is on hand to evoke production sites, artists and “Dreamtime” myths. The area devoted to Australia also exhibits shields and spear-throwers, whose motifs are still reworked by Aborigine artists. Finally, an exhibition of contemporary acrylic paintings perpetuating Aborigine traditions bears witness to the richness of their culture.
Insulindia
The Insulindia collections (insular South-East Asia) serve to highlight the ethnic and cultural diversity of this region where continental South-East Asia and Oceania meet. A collection of sumptuous adornments is on exhibition, evidencing the importance attached to personal prestige, marriage exchanges, and family treasure. Form and material are linked to myth and ritual, and also reflect the innumerable trade contacts that encouraged the spread of different motifs.
A unique collection of commemorative stone sculptures produced by the Batak of Sumatra, on Nias and Sumba, proclaims the prestige enjoyed by individuals or by clans.
The ancestor cult, which features prominently in the Insulindian archipelago, finds its own form of expression in the South Molucca Islands, where altars are lavishly decorated with abstract spiral designs.
And the need for protection against evil spirits and the forgotten dead is expressed in every facet of daily life, as evidenced by a display of everyday artefacts on which are depicted strange protecting animals – aso (Borneo), singa (Sumatra), lasara (Nias) – connected with myths of the beginnings of time.
Photography: A contemporary view of New Zealand and Maori culture
The photographic collections contain an original donation from the New Zealand government, which has gifted works by two of its nationals to mark the inauguration of this great museum of international vocation.
The first, by Michael Parekowhai and entitled “The Consolation of Philosophy”, consists of twelve photographs of bouquets of flowers, each referring to First World War battles in which Maori soldiers of the New-Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion lost their lives. By combining the commemorative use to which flowers are put with their use in Maori tradition, and also playing on the meaning of his name – derived from that of a type of flower – the artist weaves together multiple layers of meaning which give great depth to his work. The second series contains 17 photographs more closely linked to traditional Maori art. By using black-and-white and subtle plays of light, Fiona Pardington has sought to capture the essence and divine presence of “hei tiki” jade pendants, precious artefacts belonging to Maori religion, and handed down from generation to generation.
2.35 tonnes of volcanic rock for an extraordinary work
The head of Moai, from Easter Island, has stood in the musée du quai Branly since the summer of 2005. This work, sculpted from volcanic tuff, is 1.85 m high and weighs 2.35 tonnes. It was removed and shipped to France in 1872 in the presence of Pierre Loti, a naval officer, novelist and passionate observer of so-called “exotic” lands, and was on exhibition at the musée de l’Homme from the 1930s before being transferred to the museum workshops, where two experts were appointed to see to its restoration – a task that took three weeks of work. As precious as it is fragile, its installation in the garden required infinite care. Today, its gaze is fixed upon the skies above the horizon, as it once was on Easter Island, where statues of this kind seem to invoke the help of the heavens to protect the living.
Philippe PELTIER,
Head of the Oceania heritage unit
Constance DE MONBRISON,
Head of the Insulindia collections
Magali MELANDRI,
Responsible for Oceania collections
at the Oceania heritage unit
AmEriCAS
Five millennia, from Alaska to the andes cordillera
The Americas collection comprises over 900 items, exhibited in 65 display cases, along with multimedia systems. There are three sequences in the itinerary: America from the 17th century to the present day, the “Transformations transversal”, presenting the unique nature of Amerindian artefacts, and America before conquest.
How does one present both the diversity and unity of the many different Amerindian cultures in a single exhibition area, given that they came into being, developed and succeeded one another thousands of kilometres apart and across several millennia? The curators in charge of museography for the Americas collections designed their zone around a clear break in the common history of these cultures: the successive colonisations of the continent, which began in the 16th century and continued right up to the 20th century. Two of the three sequences in the itinerary are devoted to these two great eras, and are linked by a “Transformations transversal” which thematically highlights a major constant in Amerindian thought across the ages and throughout the continent.
America from the 17th century to the present day
The museography of this first sequence concentrates on presentation by geographical area and by theme, with two major focuses: Great Amazonia (the South American lowlands), represented by a series of feather artefacts, and the North American Plains, represented by a collection of painted skins dating from the 18th century and complemented by a series of paintings by George Catlin. There is also a thematic display of textiles – animal hide and bark cloth garments evidencing the importance Amerindians attached to colour, an importance already manifest in the feather artefacts stemming from the pre-Columbian period. Amerindian rituals are evoked by a series of sacred artefacts: Otomi paper cutouts, Huichol beaded calabashes, Lakandon censers from Mexico, kachina dolls from the United States, and shamanic accessories from Amazonia. Finally, a series of masks represents the northwest coast of Canada and the Inuit, while the Black Americas are evoked by artefacts fashioned by the Black-Marrons of Guyana, Voodoo accessories from Haiti, and Candomble artefacts from Brazil.
The “Transformations transversal”: the unique nature of Amerindian artefacts
Claude Lévi-Strauss demonstrated that there existed in America a pervading system of myth transformation expressing a unity of thought among Amerindian peoples. These logical transformations all result from the inversion principle.
Artefacts produced by these peoples are created following the same transformational principle, in which form is not only dictated by an artefact’s purpose, but always expresses a parallel idea. Approaching such artefacts on the basis of sometimes unexpected analogies, we find that they are expressions of a single mindset, a single collective unconscious. The transversal illustrates this pan-American constant through exhibition of a hundred or so artefacts coming from all over the continent and from every era. The club, the paddle and the rattle used to call the gods have all been unconsciously imbued with features in common, evidence of their hidden kinship…
America before conquest
The third sequence turns back the clock for the visitor, presenting Amerindian peoples as they were before the Europeans arrived. The richness of the museum’s archaeological collections enables an overall view to be given of the many cultures that succeeded one another over the millennia within the three major cultural regions: Mesoamerica, Central America and the Andes. This sequence is presented chronologically and culturally, running from the oldest cultures (Olmec, Chavin, and Paracas) to the most recent (the Aztecs and Incas), those which suffered the full consequences of confrontation with European colonists. A selection of artefacts illustrating the period has been made: statues, ceramics, works in stone generally representing deities, as well as wooden, metal, gold, textile and feather artefacts. Finally, a one-of-a-kind multimedia system takes visitors to the Palenque site in Mexico and the Choque K’Iraw site in Peru.
L’Amérique avant la conquête
La troisième séquence fait remonter le temps au visiteur et présente les populations amérindiennes avant l’arrivée des Européens. La richesse des collections archéologiques dont le musée dispose permet de donner une vue d’ensemble des nombreuses cultures qui se sont succédé, pendant plusieurs millénaires, à l’intérieur des trois grandes aires culturelles : la Mésoamérique, l’Amérique centrale et les Andes. La présentation de cette séquence est chronologique et culturelle, allant des cultures les plus anciennes (Olmèques, Chavin, Paracas) aux plus récentes (Aztèques, Incas), celles
qui subirent de plein fouet la confrontation avec les colons européens... Pour illustrer cette période, un choix d’objets a été effectué : statues, céramiques, oeuvres en pierre représentant généralement des divinités, ainsi que des objets en bois, en métal, en orfèvrerie, en textiles et en plumes. Enfin, pour présenter l’architecture de cette zone, une installation multimédia inédite propose une visite des sites de Palenque au Mexique et de Choque K’Iraw au Pérou.
A new life from the Kaiget pole
This 14-metre high red cedar totem pole was donated to the musée de l’Homme in 1939 by Kurt and Arlette Seligmann. It has been fully restored by the musée du quai Branly, thanks to a contribution by the Society of Friends, and now has a new “mission”. After spending over 65 years beneath a peristyle at the Trocadéro, it is now on exhibition in the musée du quai Branly reception hall.
Carved in the round and in bas-reliefs, the pole is made up of six parts, each with its own iconographic register, and tapers towards the top. A truly monumental work, it has found a new “made-to-measure” life in the hall… It originally came from British Columbia, and was the property of Chief Gedem Skanish, before whose house it stood, enabling any visitors to identify the chief’s rank and clan.
André DELPUECH,
Head of the American collections heritage unit
Fabienne DE PIERREBOURG,
Head of the “America speciality”
collections under the head
of the America heritage unit
Paz NUNEZ-REGUEIRO,
Head of the “America speciality”
collections at the America heritage unit
Four exceptional collections
to incite the interest of the public and of scientist alike
The musée du quai Branly houses four remarkably rich and precious collections, which it conserves, manages and documents with a dual aim in view. Firstly, they must be presented to the general public through regular rotation of artefacts in the permanent collections area and during temporary exhibitions; secondly, they must serve as useful and accessible resources for students, teachers and researchers worldwide.
The Textiles Collection
The museum’s textiles collection comprises over 25,000 items representative of the astonishing range of materials, processes, uses and forms employed by mankind throughout the world. Most date from the 19th and 20th centuries, although a number of archaeological and historical fabrics, of American origin in particular, are also included. The fullness of the collection illustrates the aesthetic choices made by different cultures, and bears witness to the contacts, borrowings and innovations made across time and space.
A vast range of fibres has been brought together: vegetable (cotton, ramie, raffia, and various types of bark phloem, such as this red variety used for a Chilktat ceremonial cape from British Columbia), animal (from varieties of silkworms, fleeced animals, porcupines, birds, shellfish, etc.), and sometimes mineral (precious metals). Weaving (Quechua woman’s headband from Charazani in Bolivia or Li woman’s skirt from the Chinese island of Hainan), whether in professional workshops or in the home, brings into play the know-how handed down from one generation to the next, integrating new procedures along the way – the same being true of dyeing, appliqué, embroidery and other techniques.
Whether for everyday use or for special occasions, whether sacred or profane, fabrics are an essential part of human life – in home decoration (carpets, tapestries, covers, bags, etc.), as aids to religious expression, and as clothing. They signal regional and social expression, and serve to express race, age group, rites of passage, and hierarchies within a particular society, as well as the relationships between men and gods, and between the living and the dead.
The Photographic Collection
The museum’s collection of photographs contains some 700,000 items, both historical and contemporary, around 580,000 of which come from the musée de l’Homme and 66,000 from the musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, the remainder being new acquisitions. The oldest photographs in the collection date back to 1841, not long after the process was first known. The 1840-1870 section of the collection is one of its strongest points, and includes an exceptionally fine series of daguerreotypes evidencing the earliest use of photography in the field of anthropology, and whose authors – soldiers, moneyed travellers, and scientists – came from a wide range of backgrounds.
Images from the 1920s and 1930s correspond to the early development of French ethnology, with professional photographers accompanying ethnologists with increasing frequency.
Strong points geographically speaking are America – Mexico, Peru and Brazil in particular –, Equatorial and West Africa, Polynesia, Melanesia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Many of these photographs were collected in the 1930s with a view to creating a documentary record. They now constitute true collections, as much for their rarity as for the number of items reflecting their authors’ particular viewpoints. In this regard, many photographs are to be displayed in the museum’s first exhibitions.
A hallmark collection, both in France and throughout the world, its patrimonial richness is a resource easily accessible to researchers through the Iconotheque (whose catalogue is partly available on Internet) and the precious collections consultation room.
The collections workshop has enabled the reconditioning of around 200,000 photographs and digitisation of over 200,000 of them.
The Musicology Collection
One of the museum’s cross-disciplinary themes is that of music and the instruments that create it. This museographic choice is a result of the richness of its musicological collections. The collection of musical instruments, which was inherited from the musée de l’Homme and the musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, first began to take shape in 1878 and increased its size over the years through acquisitions made by succeeding French ethnological expeditions. Today it comprises some 9,500 items from a variety of eras, 4,250 from Africa, 2,150 from Asia, 2,100 from America (including 750 items from the pre-Columbian period), 550 from Oceania and 450 from Insulindia. All families of instruments are represented – wind, stringed, drums, and “idiophones”, whose rigid bodies are made to vibrate by concussion, shaking, scraping, etc.
Several approaches are employed for presentation of the collection at the musée du quai Branly. Housed in a transparent Glass Tower, the reserve collection of instruments is visible from the museum reception hall, while over a hundred instruments are on display in the permanent exhibitions area. In the sections devoted to American, Asian, Insulindian and Oceanian arts and cultures, and in some of the Africa display cases, musical instruments are on exhibition alongside other artefacts, contributing to the realisation of extra-musical museographic concepts.
Music is also presented through a trio of multimedia systems. The East and West Music Centres in the collections area comprise two 30 m2 surfaces providing a collective musical experience produced by a multimedia system combining sound spatialisation equipment with projection of immersive images. There are eight multimedia programmes to choose from, plunging the visitor into the midst of an evening of seduction among the nomadic Peuls of Niger, for example, bathing him in the vocal polyphonies of the Bedzan pygmies of Cameroon, or surrounding him with the processional music of Nepal… The aim of the third sound system is to immerse the Glass Tower in a cloud of musical whispers, a perfume of sounds if you like, to bring aural presence to the mystery of the instruments kept there and to remind visitors of the true purpose of the Glass Tower’s contents.
Another area specially designed for listening is to be found on the central mezzanine of anthropological information. Here, visitors can enjoy a programme entitled “A l’écoute des musiques du monde” (Listening to music from around the world), which gives an idea of how many different perceptions of musical aesthetics are to be found across the five continents, and in which sound and comprehension tracks are employed to enhance musical knowledge.
The History Collection
The musée du quai Branly has a Historical heritage unit, inherited from the historical collections of the musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, along with collections of graphic arts and paintings by French artists, many of which came from the ethnology laboratory of the musée de l’Homme. The collection has been enlarged by a number of acquisitions made over the last five years, and now numbers almost 10,000 works of very considerable diversity: paintings, engravings, sculptures, travellers’ notebooks, and more. The variety of techniques is matched by the variety of subject matter: dioramas dating from the 1931 Colonial Exhibition, watercolours of Oceanian landscapes painted by sailors at the turn of the 19th century (and those by Paul Gauguin, a score of whose prints and drawings are in the museum’s possession), Orientalist paintings, sketches made by explorers of North and sub-Saharan African landscapes, and fanciful images of American Indians as they were imagined in the 18th century.
All these works are important pieces of historical evidence, informing us of the development of Western concepts of the Other according to place and period. They are also an inescapable reminder of the fundamental role such images continue to play in our imaginary life. In this regard, the extensive iconography the museum possesses on representation of slavery is a rich resource for educators.
Because of its historiographic nature, this collection is not meant for direct exhibition along with the other main collections. It is, however, one of the main sources for the many multimedia programmes provided for visitors, and items from it will be loaned out regularly or displayed in temporary exhibitions, starting with D’Un Regard l’Autre, in the autumn of this year.
Françoise COUSIN,
Head of the Textiles collections heritage unit
Christine BARTHE,
Scientific director of the photograph collections heritage unit
Madeleine LECLAIR,
Head of the Musical Instruments Collections heritage unit
Nanette SNOEP,
Director of the Historical Collections heritage unit
The Pavillon des Sessions,
an embassy for the musée du quai Branly within the Louvre museum
”So that masterpieces from throughout the world may be born Equal and Free…” First access to this basic right, demanded by Jacques Kerchache in a 1999 manifesto: le Pavillon des Sessions.
Inaugurated in April 2000, the Pavillon des Sessions is located in the southern part of the Palais du Louvre, between the Flore wing and the Denon wing, and houses an exhibition of 120 masterworks of sculpture, collected from throughout the world, in the heart of one of the world’s greatest museums of classical fine arts. Overnight, the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo found themselves under the same roof with a Dogon red Master of Maternity and a Quetzacóatl Plumed Serpent. The opening of the Pavillon des Sessions marked a major turning point in how the West regards the arts and civilisations of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas – that is to say, three quarters of the human race and six thousand years of world history.
A major step forward in the way we view others
After centuries of waiting, these masterpieces made their way into the musée du Louvre with splendour and ceremony, treated and exhibited with the same respect and care as works in the other museum rooms. The interior architecture of this 1200 m2 area was designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte, and enables visitors to enter it without being aware of its special nature at first glance. Refined, simply proportioned, with few partitions, and bathed in subdued light from silver-plated bronze mesh screens, it is both modern and faithful to the original principles of the Louvre’s architecture, presenting works to maximum effect.
Today, an embassy in the heart of the Louvre
The area’s architecture was not designed simply to integrate perfectly into the Louvre, but also to prefigure the major design principles behind the musée du quai Branly. The four great geographical regions are presented, and intercommunicate with one another, with visitors being able to wander freely from one to another. And although the aesthetic merit of the works is the first consideration – in the spirit of the Louvre, which houses the Pavillon des Sessions –, visitors may also extend their reading and understanding of the artefacts on view. Large-scale geographical maps are posted at the entrance to each room, giving instant information on the origins of works, and illustrated identification sheets complement information gained from the exhibit labels. In addition, a multimedia system with a dozen interactive screens gives access to further information on the history, context, use and producing society of each artefact on exhibition.
Today, even though the doors of the musée du quai Branly are about to open, the Pavillon des Sessions will remain open, continuing its role as embassy to the new museum.
The Chupicuaro statuette, the musée du quai Branly’s first acquisition
The Chupicuaro statuette selected as an emblem of the museum was sculpted sometime between 600 and 100 BC. It is a terracotta work from Mexico, and comes from the collection of Guy Joussemet, one of the many donators who wished to help in enriching the museum’s collections.
Produced by a still little-known pre-Columbian civilisation, the 31 cm statuette is a symbol of fertility and the turning of the seasons, and has taken two millennia to reach us, in remarkably well-preserved condition, to take up its present home in the Pavillon des Sessions.
Developing and enriching the musée du quai Branly heritage
The musée du quai Branly’s acquisition policy enables it to activate and balance its heritage.
The necessity of establishing an acquisition policy became clear as early as 1997. The Steering Committee therefore appointed a Pre-selection Committee to consider works worthy of being included in the museum’s heritage. Its five members drew up a list of priorities, and the director of the museographic project, Germain Viatte, then presented their proposals to the Consulting Committee of Curators and the Artistic Committee of National Museums.
The Pre-selection Committee based its choices on four considerations: the need to strengthen collections by acquisition of major works, to balance the four geographical regions presented in the museum, to emphasise variety, and to make acquisitions in countries of origin.
This overall orientation helped early on to enrich the selection of works exhibited in the Pavillon des Sessions, and later enabled the museum to widen and further personalise presentation of its collections.
The help of the new provisions of the 2003 law on patronage
Between 1999 and 2005, opportunities arising in the art market, along with gifts and donations, led to acquisition of several hundred exceptionally fine artefacts, including two Totihuacan vases, a Bambara spear, a large Baining Vungvung mask, a rare Mapuche pole from Chile, and a Luba-Hemba statue. Added to this was the major acquisition, made with the patronage of Axa, of the Dogon statue that greets visitors at the entrance to the collections area, and of the 25 Himalayan masks gifted by Marc Petit.
Finally, there was the acquisition of a hundred tribal bronzes from India, a particularly important purchase that led to the donation of a collection of 3,000 items from the same group of cultures and their present-day developments.
The “Djennenke”-style Dogon statue, a symbol of immortality
Acquisition by the French State, thanks to AXA patronage, of a 10th or 11th century wooden statue from the Djenne region in west Dogon country is an illustration of the museum’s desire to give public access to the very finest statuary. It is also the first work of major interest from a non-Western society to benefit from the August 2003 law on patronage. The statue is one of the major features of the Africa zone, being unique and remarkable not only for its size (almost two metres in height) but for its beauty and antiquity. Protector and mediator, androgynous in form, its expression severe and its arms outstretched towards the world of the gods, with a pair of twins kneeling respectfully before it, the work incarnates a particular idea of perfection and immortality, and greets the visitor as he enters the collections area.
An information system accompanying visitors on their journey
The musée du quai Branly has taken innovative measures to adapt new technologies to art and ethnography. Here, multimedia systems aim to promote understanding of works, cultures, peoples, and civilisations.
Maximising accessibility of artefacts on exhibition
Multimedia tools help to increase understanding of the use of works in their original contexts. Many of the artefacts on exhibition still play an active part in their people’s lives, a fact that multimedia programmes bring to visual life. Audiovisual aids accompany the visitor, complementing the works on view, and are also a means for the museum to present its non-material heritage of sound, photographic and film archives. By their original content and their judicious use of the museum’s documentary collections, the multimedia programmes allow us to witness ceremonies, everyday life, architecture and landscapes. More than just straightforward representations, they place artefacts chronologically and geographically, guiding the public in its voyage of discovery.
The information system has a very definite editorial policy, whose aim is to provide a dynamic picture of cultural and artistic practices.
Multi-level interactivity
Multimedia information is available in a number of different forms, identifiable according to system typology. Visitors have access to systems ranging from the very simple (level 1) to the most innovative (level 3), the latter giving the user maximum interactivity.
Level-1 systems have deliberately less challenging contents, with 60 programmes lasting an average of three minutes. Level-2 systems are based on more developed thematic editorial content, and require more sophisticated handling, with specialist knowledge and viewpoints presented in twenty interactive programmes, each introduced by a special segment designed in the form of a monologue, to let peoples from local cultures have their say. The segment acts as a “preface”, and is not meant to summarise the subject, but rather to help give it further depth. Design of level-2 programmes puts emphasis on extracts from reports and rare documentaries, making reference to charismatic persons, known or anonymous. Level-3 multimedia systems are altogether innovative. Specially designed for the musée du quai Branly, they put the visitor into an interactive environment, encouraging subjectivity through such techniques as holographic projection, image walls and immersive visualisation.
Ten level-3 multimedia systems cover all geographical zones and accompanying themes presented in the museum. It is, for example, possible, with the help of binocular glasses, to have a stereoscopic and panoramic view of the two pre-Columbian archaeological sites of Palenque in Mexico and Choque K’Iraw in Peru.
Multimedia information: a purpose-built area
The multimedia programmes available on the central mezzanine of anthropological information are designed as cultural and scientific observatories for studying the peoples and civilisations presented in the museum. They cover such vast and varied fields as architecture, languages, ecosystems, geography and anthropology, all of which are essential to any understanding of the cultures of these peoples. The visitor can make use of the programme tree structure with its inter-relating entries to help him organise his visit and knowledge in his own fashion. As with the documentary portal, this suspended gallery benefited from the patronage of Ixis C&B Group Caisse d’Epargne.
Multimedia productions in figures
All scenarios were written by scientists and museum curators, with the help of leading international specialists, and enable the public to experience masterpieces of non-material heritage, oral tradition, and traditional music, while providing information on the current state of fieldwork and research.
100 programmes, a total of about 8 audiovisual hours.
20 interactive programmes.
35 authors.
1,781 audiovisual documents (90% from the archives and 10% specially created).
192 different documentary sources and assignees.
The reserve collections,
at the heart of the museum
Housing almost 300,000 works, the reserve collections have a special place, central to the musée du quai Branly project.
From the outset, the project made provision for the regular participation of reserve collections in museum life, in the context of its exhibition rotation policy. A unique feature in the museum world, part of its reserves are on public view, in the 24-metre high Glass Tower which accommodates its collection of musical instruments, and through a window opening on to the reserve collection of large-scale works. The main aim of the programme, however, was to make all reserve items accessible to a specialised public of researchers, scientists and academics. The 300,000 works are therefore stored at lower garden level, in an area of almost 6,000 m2. They are served by wide aisles running between shelves, which not only help make items more accessible, but are also wide enough to enable evacuation of all reserves within 24 hours in case of unprecedented heavy flooding.
A new design for safekeeping of reserve collections
The closeness of the River Seine raised the problem of conservation of organic artefacts that are highly sensitive to humidity. During museum construction, a veritable underground fortress was built around the building’s basements, with a fully waterproof casing affording effective protection against seepage from the river.
The Glass Tower: the musical instrument reserve
The Glass Tower is a central reference point in the building whose height extends from top to bottom. It was created with the help of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, and is one manifestation of the wish to reveal that which a museum normally keeps hidden from the public eye. The 9,500 or so items kept there make the instrumental reserve an astonishing object of contemplation. Its contents are bathed in a subtle play of light and shadow, as much to protect them as to stimulate the imagination, a fascinating effect further reinforced by the musical “whispering” filtering through the glass walls and audible when one approaches the reserve, and by multimedia screens whose programming rhythmically appears and vanishes on the surface of the Tower in the form of points of light converging short series of images of the instruments, their manufacture and their playing.
The work site for the collections
First of its kind on the museum landscape
Itemising, cataloguing and naming of works are among the first tasks of conservation in any museum. With such full collections to deal with, the musée du quai Branly has adapted a method used in libraries: the work site for the collections.
Within a few months, the musée du quai Branly succeeded in bringing a full-scale conservation campaign to bear upon the 300,000 items that make up its collections. This vast operation has, of course, ensured preservation of the physical integrity of works entrusted to the museum, organised the collections, and safeguarded and expanded data concerning the items, but it has also given thought to the status of each artefact and redefined it where necessary. Today, it guarantees their accessibility and international diffusion, in particular in their countries of origin.
The project was undertaken in 2001 under the direction of Christiane Naffah, and completed in 2004. It required 70 persons to implement, and was carried out in several stages. The task sequence commenced with assembly and removal of collections from the two original museums (musée de l’Homme and musée des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie), and ended with installation of artefacts in the collections rooms or in the museum’s reserves. In between, restoration teams carried out barcoding, TMS archiving, measurement and dust removal operations on the artefacts, as well as 2D and 3D filming of 4,000 of them and insecticide treatment by anoxia (deprival of oxygen).
Giving new life to artefacts conserved
The work site for the collections is a major stage in the project as a whole, due to the variety and fragility of pieces to be treated and to the innovative procedures and techniques that have enabled its successful implementation. Apart from the rigorous approach required of such a project, work was carried out in a genuine spirit of open-mindedness, with the collaboration of a large number of anthropologists. Protocols and feedback on experiments, in both French and English, were put at the disposal of other museums. As well as rationalising conservation and preservation methods, working in this way is of strategic value, arousing the interest of the international scientific and academic community as a whole. Thanks to the documentary portal available on the musée du quai Branly website, an illustrated, detailed inventory of its collections in their entirety is available to everyone anywhere in the world, and the collections, whether on exhibition or in reserve, are always accessible, even in virtual circumstances.
The Museum System: new generation archiving
Developed and published by GallerySystems, The Museum System (TMS) is a computer database specially designed for museums, enabling cataloguing and registration of items, assigning each one a complete identification sheet. The software also itemises movement of artefacts, when they are taken out of reserve for exhibition or when they are removed for restoration or lent to other institutions. This latter function is of especial value to the musée du quai Branly, firstly because reliable and rapid traceability is essential to planning the exhibition of all 300,000 items at its disposal in a 12-year cycle, and secondly because it enables implementation of a closely monitored and reactive lending policy.
Finally, TMS comes with software known as eMuseum, which enables the museum’s complete catalogue to be put online, reserves included, giving the academic and scientific community instant free access to the museum’s riches.
Loans and partnerships
dialogue and cooperation with institutions throughout the world
Exhibiting, works from four continents, the museum is by its very nature an institution of international vocation. The desire to be seen as such is central to its general policy and naturally implies continuous and productive dialogue with the countries in which its collections originated, as well as with counterpart institutions. Thanks to its active lending policy, partnerships and participation in a range of networks, the museum has everything required to make it a new driving force in the international community.
Besides its participation in the creation of the GDRI (Groupement de Recherches Internationales – International Research Group) of which it is an active member, the museum has formed a wide range of partnerships. First of all, there is bilateral cooperation – the most “traditional” kind – in the context of the museum’s exhibition projects. Such cooperative operations are normally for a fixed period of time, and involve input from collections of museums in the countries concerned (in the form of loans, studies, publications, etc.) or from resource persons such as collection curators and researchers. Costa Rica, for example, has lent the museum a Diquis sphere, exhibited in the auditorium foyer, and New Zealand gifted works by two of its contemporary artists. In return, the museum has put its own collections at the disposal of its counterparts through deposits or loans of works to other museums, such as the centre Jean-Marie Tjibaou, or to such international exhibition events as Africa Remix, organised by the centre Georges-Pompidou.
The museum’s main lines of international cooperation
Besides this, and in parallel to its active participation in such European and international networks as the TREEMUS programme (a group of European ethnology museum directors), the ASEMUS network (which brings together Asian and European museums), and the Pacific Art Association, the museum has implemented a policy of long-term partnerships with various countries of origin for the works it exhibits. A framework agreement signed with the musée de Tahiti was renewed in December 2005, creating a special relationship between the two institutions. Such long-term partnerships involve sharing of experience, and the making available of means, techniques and training, and enable the museum to build constructive relations with a large number of establishments and communities throughout the world. Many operations are currently underway or have already been completed: the Australian Aborigine ceilings now form an integral part of the museum, a Priority Solidarity Fund has been set up with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, involving the museum, the School of African Patrimony in Porto-Novo and 26 African museums, and a number of other cooperation agreements are currently being formalised. Countries concerned already include Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Vietnam. Agreements signed with such countries enable enhancement of their heritage and implementation of effective conservation policies, and also help the museum to document its own collections.
Restoration of the Paracas funeral wrappings: a model of international cooperation
In June 2008, the museum will mount a major special-theme exhibition focusing on the funeral wrappings or “fardos” of the Paracas, a vanished Peruvian civilisation. These textile items, over 2000 years old and preserved thanks to a particularly dry climate until their discovery at the sites of archaeological digs, are currently being restored, a joint-operation undertaken by the musée du quai Branly and Peru’s National Institute of Culture.
The technical and professional partnership agreement has enabled on-site accompaniment in Peru of restoration of these national treasures, under the supervision of Peruvian curators and in collaboration with Danièle Lavallée, CNRS researcher and commissioner of the future exhibition. Apart from preservation of this unique heritage, the partnership seeks to encourage long-term sharing of knowledge and know-how between France and Peru.
The mediatheque
A polyvalent area for specialist research and public information
The musée du quai Branly has inherited rich and prestigious collections, and has taken a new approach to management and consultation, in which accessibility to the general public goes hand in hand with a in-depth scientific research
The mediatheque is located in the Auvent building and its composed of documentary collections from the musée de l’Homme and the musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie – 170,000 monographs, 3,000 periodical titles and 580,000 photographs from the former, and 12,000 monographs and off-prints, and 65,000 photographs from the latter. Transfer of these collections took several years’ hard work of conservation, computerisation and digitisation.
This invaluable inheritance is constantly being augmented by a policy of continued enrichment of collections, particularly in the field of art history, complemented by donations or acquisitions from collectors’ and researchers’ libraries. In the past two years, for example, the mediatheque has acquired some 25,000 works from the libraries of Jacques Kerchache and Georges Condominas. The whole is completed by major archive and documentation resources concerning artefacts in the museum – 550 and 6,000 dossiers respectively.
Hallmark documentary collections
The mediatheque must fulfil the same role as its collections. It must both satisfy the curiosity of the general public and constitute an effective resource centre for researchers in a range of different disciplines – ethnology, to be sure, but also including art history and architecture among many others. In order to do so, it offers the public two main services: firstly, a reading room forming part of the museum exhibitions and providing general documentation on the works on view, and their countries and civilisations of origin, and secondly, a research mediatheque putting all reference resources concerning the sets of themes tackled by the museum at the disposal of students and professionals in the field of non-Western arts and sciences.
The mediatheque in figures
A collection of 250,000 printed books, 25,000 of which are on open shelves
11 km of storage shelf space
A 250 m2 reading room with seating for 50 persons
A 1,100 m2 research room on the museum roof, with seating for 180 persons
The Jacques Kerchache reading room
The museum pays homage to one of its main initiators in naming the mediatheque reading room after Jacques Kerchache, the great French collector who died in 2001. Created thanks to the patronage of the Sony Europa Foundation, which paid for fixtures and furniture, and by Mr and Mrs Bruno Roger, who bore the cost of mounting the photographs taken by Jacques Kerchache that adorn the ceiling, the 50-seat room, equipped with a reading machine for the visually impaired, contains 5,000 freely accessible works, 500 of which are specially aimed at children of seven years old and above.
A Taino work, “the Genius of the Gayac”, lent by the Montane Anthropological Museum in Havana, will be on show in the Jacques Kerchache room for the museum’s first year – homage to Jacques Kerchache’s 1994 exhibition, “The Art of the Tainos”, an event that heralded the creation of a future setting for non-Western arts and civilisations, the musée du quai Branly, in the heart of Paris…
The documentary portal: 300,000 items accessible on Internet
Given that enhancement of its heritage and the widest possible sharing of its collections, both with their countries of origin and the public at large, are among its main objectives, the musée du quai Branly plans, upon opening, to provide online access to the entirety of its collections. An innovative offer made possible thanks to the patronage of Ixis C&B Group Caisse d’Epargne, this major Internet catalogue lists a total of 300,000 items, each with notes and photographs. Other innovations in the documentary portal are possible cross-referencing with the other museum databases (printed documents, iconographic documents, and collections archives and documentation), the ergonomics that make navigation through data a simple matter, and the intuitive research and consultation tools it incorporates.
Odile GRANDET,
Assistant Director responsible for the mediatheque.
Research and education
A major mission for the musée du quai Branly
The musée du quai Branly is, by decree, a research centre. Its missions are to preserve, enhance and study collections representative of the arts and civilisations of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas.
One of the principal missions entrusted to the musée du quai Branly since its very beginnings has been to develop research and higher education in the fields in which it is concerned. To this end, the museum is organised around two major departments: the heritage and collections department, under the direction of Jean-Pierre Mohen, and the research and education department, headed by Anne-Christine Taylor.
This latter department seeks to promote research work in connection with the museum collections, provide higher educational facilities for graduates studying for their Master’s degree or doctorate, and further the spread of knowledge in the field of human sciences.
In order to meet these objectives, researchers and teachers working with the museum have been provided with offices, classrooms, and rooms for the study of artefacts.
Understanding connections between cultures
The museum is open to research projects relating to a wide range of disciplines: anthropology, history, art history, sociology of cultural institutions or institutionalisation processes, linguistics – ethnolinguistics in particular –, ethnomusicology, cultural technology, cognitive sciences, etc.
Although the museum supports research projects relating to non-Western cultures, it pays special attention to those with a European cultural dimension, promotion of understanding of connections between cultures being one of its main objectives.
Higher educational facilities
The musée du quai Branly does not award national diplomas, nor is it a substitute for universities or specialised schools. It does, however, provide teaching facilities connected with its collections or otherwise in line with scientific orientations defined by the department. Designed for students in their first or second Master’s or Doctoral year, teaching will be carried out by academics from major higher educational institutions, “relocating” their regular courses, by museum curators and by researchers from teams working with the museum as part of the GDRI (International Research Group) of which the musée du quai Branly is a leading member.
The department’s role, however, is not simply to organise seminars and courses. It also takes an active part in course design for Master’s and Doctoral programmes, in partnership with major institutions of higher education. From October 2006, the museum will open its doors to 250 students, and four post-doctoral grants, three doctoral grants and a thesis prize will also be awarded. Besides these regular educational activities, the department also organises one-off lectures aimed at a wider public and highlighting the work of French or foreign researchers invited to the Museum.
The TREEMUS project (Tools for Researching European Ethnographical Museums)
The museum’s research and education department is at the forefront of a European project bringing together a number of museums and whose aim is mutualisation of European ethnological museum digital databases. The total extra-European heritage of all European museums may be estimated at between 5 and 10 million items. Mutualisation of digital catalogues, their documentation and introduction online require innovative techniques adapted to such a vast corpus, the development of interrogation tools capable of managing the heterogeneity of thesauruses resulting from the types of categories being processed: ethnonyms, artefact typology, etc. To meet such a challenge, the project requires innovation in information technology as applied to human sciences, stemming from the latest research in semantic engineering, and TREEMUS is promoting continued research in this field. Involving as it does such major technological innovations, TREEMUS is already recognised as a fully-fledged research project in its own right.
Groupement de Recherche International (GDRI – International Research Group)
Since it opened, the musée du quai Branly has wished to partner itself with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS – National Scientific Research Centre) to create an interdisciplinary research body, international in scale, devoted to development and diffusion of research on anthropology and art history.
A GDRI is a network of institutions in different countries, all in agreement over the need to develop research on specific sets of scientific themes. Financed by all parties concerned, the GDRI draws up innovative research projects, encourages mobility of personnel from partner institutions, and organises seminars, workshops and colloquiums. A GDRI has a four-year renewable lifespan.
Apart from the musée du quai Branly and the CNRS, partner institutions making up the “anthropology and art history” GDRI are the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS-Paris), the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (INHA-Paris), the Université de Paris X-Nanterre (ethnology and art history departments), the Université de Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne (archaeology), the Direction Générale de la Coopération Internationale (DGCI) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and abroad, the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia, the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, the Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde in Munich, the Museu Nacional (PPGAS) and the PPGSA (IFCS-UFRJ) at the University of Rio de Janeiro, the University of Sao Paulo (USPI), the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH) in Mexico, and the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). The above list is not closed, and other institutions can join the GDRI in the future, with approval of its scientific committee.
Gradhiva: a highly reputed scientific review
Founded in 1986 by Michel Leiris and Jean Jamin, the Gradhiva Review (originally published by the Groupe de Recherches et d’Analyses sur l’Histoire et les Variations de l’Anthropologie, a team of researchers from the CNRS and the musée de l’Homme) has been published by the musée du quai Branly since the first half of 2005.
With the launch of the new series, the review’s subtitle was changed from “revue d’histoire et d’archives de l’anthropologie” (Review of Anthropological History and Archives) to “revue d’anthropologie et de muséologie” (Anthropological and Museological Review). The review’s scientific vocation and editorial policy, however, remained unchanged
A forum for debate on the history of and current developments in anthropology, based on original studies and on publication of archive material and eye-witness accounts, the review is open to a range of disciplines, including anthropology, aesthetics, history, sociology, literature, and music. It places emphasis on the study and analysis of artefacts and museological problematics, and seeks to develop interconnections between text and image through its own iconographic style.
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Anne-Christine TAYLOR,
Director
Marcel SKROBEK,
Assistant Director
A multi-faceted cultural institution
A cultural offer page 26
Theatre, dance and music page 27
Lectures and colloquiyums page 29
The public page 30
The publication policy page 32
Patronage page 33
A cultural offer in motion
Life at the musée du quai Branly includes a continuous succession of temporary exhibitions, held for varying lengths of time and designed to put its collections in perspective from new angles, as well as to acquaint the public with treasures from other institutions and with works by contemporary artists.
International temporary exhibitions
The museum contains three temporary exhibition areas, the first and largest being reserved for international temporary exhibitions. The 2,000 m2 Garden Gallery is situated at garden level and will accommodate two exhibitions a year, in spring and in autumn, one focusing on traditional cultures and the other on contemporary artists. Visitors are invited to take part in the continuous dialogue so created, passing from one exhibition to the other, to experience different cultures, eras, and visions of reality. These exhibitions will be made up of items from collections and loans from museums throughout the world.
Anthropological exhibitions
The second temporary exhibition area is located alongside the collections area. The suspended West Gallery has a surface area of 800 m2 and accommodates long-duration exhibitions – of eighteen months – focusing on major themes structuring human relationships. Original scenography will encourage visitors to ponder upon universal constants – creation, belief, initiation, growth, and conquest…
The first of these exhibitions is entitled “Qu’est-ce qu’un corps?” (What is a body?). It was designed by the ethnologist Stéphane Breton along with a group of anthropologists, and compares different ways in which the body is considered through the manner in which it is represented in the arts of West Africa, New Guinea, Amazonia and Europe. An invitation to acquaint oneself with these many and various “body works”, it highlights certain constants, in particular the tendency of human thought to view the body as a composite structure, an assembly of “other” materials.
“Special theme” exhibitions
Specifically designed exhibitions are mounted in the 600 m2 suspended East Gallery, taking selections of works from the museum collections and focusing on them from a particular viewpoint. Exhibitions of this kind are ways of exploring the musée du quai Branly collections. For example, an exhibition commissioned by Lorenz Homberger, Assistant Director of the Museum Rietberg in Zurich, brings together 36 ciwara antelope headdresses from Mali; while another, with Christine Hemmet, director of the musée du quai Branly Asia collections heritage unit, as commissioner, pays homage to the collection put together in Vietnam by the ethnologist Georges Condominas between 1948 and 1949.
D’Un Regard l’Autre
The theme of the first temporary exhibition in the Garden Gallery is especially symbolic of the musée du quai Branly’s vocation and history. “D’Un Regard l’Autre” (Looking from Another Point of View) traces the development of the different ways in which Europeans have regarded non-Western societies since the 15th century. The exhibition, commissioned by Yves Le Fur, Assistant Director of the Museum collections heritage department, is both thematic and chronological, and demonstrates the relativity of our views on African, Oceanian and American cultures. In this “mise en abyme”, the artefacts on exhibition are approached in terms of the different ways they have been considered by Europeans during succeeding eras and cultural configurations from the Renaissance to the present day. Drawing on the musée du quai Branly collections, along with many items loaned by international museums, the exhibition demonstrates how western collections have focused on specific types of artefacts over the centuries (weapons, statuettes, etc.), and illustrates the periodic return of such themes as the Noble Savage, the Garden of Eden, and such constants as the image of the Other. The resulting intertwining of views makes no judgements upon History, but on the contrary seeks to encourage the visitor to reach his own conclusions upon the possibility of regarding non-European art in a new way, setting aside traditional notions of aesthetics and ethnography. The exhibition comes to an end at the threshold to the collections area, inviting each individual to adopt and criticise his own approach.
Theatre, dance and music,
or Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas
A key component of the museum’s displays, the programme favours different forms of traditional and contemporary expressions.
The living arts programme, orchestrated by Alain Weber, reveals the vitality and present status of arts and civilisations in Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Americas. Thanks to its adaptable space, the Claude Lévi-Strauss Theatre can put on a variety of performances.
The musée du quai Branly devotes a key role to the present status of these arts through a series of performances, “shows”, folk traditions and non-material heritages, a corpus of epics, rites and songs. These cycles give a wide expression to non-European cultures by blending traditional, contemporary and urban approaches. Organised on the basis of geographical or thematic affinities between works, depending on the season, twenty or so events are planned per year, structured around five different themes, offering a privileged place to an array of artistic creations.
For the 2006-2007 season, on one or a blend of these themes, five cycles have been selected:
- Arts “métis” (“multicultural” arts, carrying the same meaning as Serge Gruzinski intended in “La Pensée métisse”, a work showing the identity constructions and artistic and social productions resulting from a multicultural heritage): sensitive to exchanges and influences, the programme looks at three Mahabharata from the outset: Italian, Indian and Japanese.
- Ritual and folk ceremonies: With the aim of bringing the European public and diaspora people together, the theatre puts on an annual major cycle based on a folk festival or ritual art. For the museum’s opening year, the cycle “Shamanism in Siberia” will present traditional songs. These events will be presented by a guest anthropologist at explanatory lectures just before the performances themselves.
- Music of the world: This is logically at the heart of the programme with, this year, “Desert Blues” on the one hand and on the other, the Repentistas – poetic verbal sparring matches practised in Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries, with emphasis placed on those from Cuba, a country where this type of music is widespread.
- Urban cultures, arts and crafts: The programme gives space and expression to “street art”, conceived as arts blending tradition and extreme modernity: songs, fashion, performances, experimental videos… Particular emphasis is placed on the emergence of female expressions within these different artistic fields.
- Poetry: Given pride of place during the first season in the main theme defined by Alain Weber, “Poetry, the words and the people”, poetry involves all means of creation of oral character.
The museum also creates links, echoes between the different cycles. Some exhibitions are accompanied with events in the auditorium, such as “What is a body?”: around the exhibition, lectures will be given by artists (choreographers, directors and writers).
Lastly, in the Claude Lévi-Strauss Theatre, the museum seeks to conserve, pass on and shed light on non-European living arts, and questions the protection of non-material heritages: work conducted in parallel along with various French institutions (Centre National de la Danse, Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Festivals de Radio France et Montpellier, IRCAM, INA) is focused on the modalities of memory and transmission, as well as on musicological and choreological analysis.
The Mahabharata, three versions for visiting the founding epic of Hinduism
Containing over 250,000 verses, the Mahabharata, which was, according to legend, written by Ganesh, describes, among other events, the life of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. For the official opening of its programme, the museum theatre is putting on three versions of “la geste de la Grande Inde” (The Gest of Great India). The first, a version related by an Indian actress, will familiarise the public with the work and reveal the charms and developments of this epic, considered as the Indian Odyssey. The two other shows of this cycle present distinct scenographical viewpoints: firstly the Japanese Ku Na’uka Theatre company, managed by Satoshi Miyagi, will put on a Kabuki-inspired version, in which one story-teller narrates the text while 28 actors perform on stage. Secondly, Massimo Schuster, an Italian puppeteer and actor, will present a version combining one actor with real sculpture-like puppets, created by the Italian visual artist Enrico Baj, representing people from the dawn of time…
Lectures and colloquiums
The musée du quai Branly seeks to deepen people’s knowledge of non-Western arts and civilisations. In parallel with the collections and temporary exhibitions, visitors and specialists alike are invited to take part in seminars and colloquiums.
A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY, PUBLIC ENCOUNTERS
The objective of the Université populaire du quai Branly, freely accessible at no cost, is to bring the general public, specialists and intellectuals together. Historians and researchers of all nationalities, artists and philosophers will share knowledge and ways of thinking to help bring perspective to the diversity of civilisations. Catherine Clément, a philosopher, novelist and essayist, manages the Université populaire as its programme advisor.
Scientific encounters
Alongside these events, the museum will also organise various scientific activities – workshops, study days, discussions groups, etc. These will present breakthroughs made in research in particular and gather the necessary new elements together for their practise. In October 2006, the museum will host the 15th Inuit Congress organised by the INALCO (French national institute of eastern civilisations and languages). In June 2007, the museum will also produce an international discussion group led by Thierry Dufrêne, on the theme “Anthropology and History of Art”. The museum has already organised, prior to its official opening, two colloquiums: one in 2002 as part of the exhibition “Kodiak, Alaska: the masks from the collection Alphonse Pinart” led by Emmanuel Désveaux; the second, in 2004, as part of the cycle devoted to “the multicultural experience” in partnership with the Louvre auditorium, led by Serge Gruzinski. In addition to these major scientific events, the research and education department would like to organise cycles that present and discuss specific scientific themes, reserved for researchers and post-graduate students. These will focus on new fields of knowledge and speed up the dissemination of conceptual, methodological and technical breakthroughs.
FOUR REGULAR CYCLES
Cycle 1: A global history of colonisation
September 2006 – April 2007
Coming from all over Europe, historians will resume the colonial history of their country.
Cycle 2: The great controversies of universality
September 2006 – April 2007
Cycle 3: Lectures “Artists and their attitude to the body”
January 2007
In association with the exhibition “What is a body?” , three artists will talk about their attitude to the body: the dancer Karine Saporta, the writer Hélène Cixous, and the film maker and director Patrice Chéreau.
Cycle 4: The Great Witnesses
Monthly
Distinguished people with a rare biographical experience: Abdou Diouf, Mario Soares, Erik Orsenna, Ousmane Sow…
Heightening public awareness
of the equal dignity of all cultures
The musée du quai Branly acts as an interface. A haven for thousands of objects and documents recounting the life and cultures of the world, it is also a restoration site designed to pay tribute to the countries from where the collections originated – to give Europeans an insight into the full facets of the history and arts of Humanity – and lastly to make this wealth accessible to all, with particular attention paid to disabled people or people in difficult social situations.
A call to discover and recognise the equality of cultures, the museum favours a plurality of angles – scientific, poetic, analogical… – each promoting a sharing and respectful attitude.
Welcoming as many people as possible
This ambition is particularly reflected in our public welcoming facilities which are, as an example, accessible in several languages: French, English, Spanish and German for the audio guides.
The musée du quai Branly audio guide is the fruit of deep reflection on contents and form.
Adapted for all sorts of publics and programmed around an initial selection of works, the guide propels the visitor into a sound experience with the objects on display based on a technique similar to “radiophonic mix”. The commentary invites the visitor to take a closer look at the works of art by maintaining a constant link between them – forms, techniques, materials – thanks to explanations given.
The equipment, visits, attractions and services have been carefully designed to provide a comfortable, simple and quality experience for the visitor. The dispensing of information, advice and an initiation to history and culture are all assured through an original museographical multimedia system and a complete guide to visits, conferences, workshops, consultation of dossiers on site or on line.
A privileged bond with visitors from countries where the collections originated
In order to create a constructive bond with people from countries where the collections originated – central to its mission – the museum makes it a point to strike up privileged relationships with these welcomed visitors who become players in some of the events programmed by the museum, participating in debates and discussions and sharing their cultural knowledge and practices (story-telling and music workshops) with the public.
With this in mind, these visitors becomes associated with the life of the museum and partake in exceptional ritual festivals coproduced with community associations and held in the building or on museum grounds.
Particular attention paid to disabled people and people in difficult social situations
From the outset, the museum has been committed to welcoming disabled people, and this commitment has been given concrete expression in the architecture and functioning of the building: uncluttered accesses, wide corridors and rest areas have been designed in this respect. The Ramp, a long gentle slope, provides independent and easy access from the entrance hall to the collections area. It is also reflected in the museography which prioritises multi-sensory approaches as offered by the “Rivière” for example, and makes use of bas-reliefs, tactile objects and multimedia screens to offer a richer experience of the collections and exhibitions than simple visual and audio effects.
At the same time, schemes are being implemented over the long term with associations, community centres and teachers to organise programmes which open the museum up to people in difficult social situations and to involve them in its activities.
For children and students
By virtue of its very collections, the musée du quai Branly represents a world of enchantment and place of learning for children. For this reason, the museum has organised, especially for them, artistic workshops, visits with storytelling and enjoyable ways of discovering the works of art, as a family or in a school group. To prepare for a visit, teaching materials are available for schools, containing information about scholastic programmes in arts and humanities. The museum website has information on the surrealists or European explorers for example, from the Renaissance to the 20th century, in the form of texts illustrated with images and maps.
For students, the museum is a dynamic campus where the mediatheque and education dispensed on site constitute valuable resources for their studies. They will also find initiation and educational activities as well as debates, lectures and encounters regularly organised in the auditorium.
The “Rivière”: a new aesthetic and informative experience
Snaking over 200 metres through the collections area, the “Rivière” system combines 19 video terminals, bas-reliefs, and texts embedded in a long leather structure. A new museographical facility accessible to everyone, particularly blind, poorly sighted or wheelchair-bound people, the “Rivière” does not exhibit any real artefacts. Rather, it transposes the visitor through a multitude of interpretations and observations, of the world as recounted by ethnologists or residents on the four continents given pride of place at the museum.
Divided into three sections, the “Rivière” presents a variation on the idea of places such as they are surveyed (places of the discovery), inhabited (places of people), or dreamed (sacred places), from Mongolia to Amazonia, from China to Senegal… By discovering the journey made by the souls of the Dayak in Indonesia after death, by contemplating the idea of Eldorado, by soaring to the top of Kunlun mountain (a sacred place for the Taoists), visitors, along the “Rivière”, will travel across different worlds from different perspectives. The installation of the “Rivière” was made possible thanks to the patronage of the Schneider Electric group.
The museum’ publication policy
Freedom of expression and rigour of content
A depository of treasures from around the world, vehicle and organiser of a new interdisciplinary approach to non-European civilisations and arts, the musée du quai Branly intends to play a leading role in publishing works related to its collections and activities. With fifteen works published for the 2006-2007 season, the museum’s publication programme is on an original and dynamic course.
Exhibition catalogues, annotated catalogues, books about the museum, collection guides, pictorial books… Intended for everyone, published in multiple forms and formats, the publication policy of the musée du quai Branly is to produce its own editions or co-produce with leading companies as Flammarion, Actes Sud, 5 continents, Réunion des Musées Nationaux…
The wealth of collections, new resources: a new publication policy
The objective of the museum’s publications is to accompany and back up all of the museum’s activities related to non-Western civilisations and arts: anthropology, ethnology, ethno-musicology, history of art, philosophy, as well as all the disciplines that often touch upon these areas…
DVDs, films and audiovisual works: extending our outlook on the world
As well as publishing books, the museum’s publication policy also includes the production of other media: accordingly, the cinematographic and visual exhibition catalogue “Diaspora d’Afrique” will be available on DVD (September 2007), a technology particularly adapted to the museum’s principles. Productions in partnerships on other media are currently under way: a collection of musical works from the diverse regions exhibited at the museum, as well as a series of films, both fiction and documentaries, on the theme of strangeness, offering a new approach to “otherness”.
Reaching as many people as possible, as quickly as possible: the musée du quai Branly website
The musée du quai Branly is also an “online publisher” in its own right.
It has a special editorial mission of making a large number of publications freely available and presenting all the museum’s programmes and resources on its website (quaibranly.fr). Three types of publications are of particular interest: researchers’ thesis, selected by the Department of Research and Education; acts from the main colloquiums and lectures organized in the museum theatre; annotated catalogues for the temporary exhibitions much like the documentary portal is used for the collections.
“Aztèques”, an art book and annotated inventory of the collection
The musée du quai Branly’s collection of Aztec sculptures, containing over 90 exhibits, is one of the richest European collections along with those in London, Berlin and Basle. Even before its opening, the museum published an annotated inventory of this collection in May 2005, under the supervision of Marie-France Fauvet-Berthelot, a doctor of prehistory, and Leonardo Lopez Lujan, a doctor in archaeology.
This work is the first in the collection of annotated inventories to come, three for 2006 and three for 2007).
“Qu’est-ce qu’un corps?” (What is a body?)
An exhibition catalogue organised by Stéphane Breton, this book, co-published with Flammarion, aims to “illustrate an anthropological theory through objects and forms” and is a real work of human sciences, produced by a team of leading anthropologist writers and containing significant iconography.
Patronage, a shared enrichment
From the outset, the musée du quai Branly wanted to enlist the backing of patrons though support of artistic creations for its architecture, for its restoration work, major acquisitions and research and education projects.
New dialogue is engaged
The musée du quai Branly’s patron policy goes right back to the genesis of the project: it has been in place since 1999, after a comparative analysis of the methods used in the field by other museums in France, Great Britain and the United States. Led and organised by Stéphane Martin, President of the musée du quai Branly, patronage opens up dialogue with the major French and international companies and addresses their managers and communication, marketing and patronage departments to raise awareness of the museum’s activities. Accordingly, museum policy is to regularly send out information to this special public on the highlights of life at the museum and to organise visits and events.
Sharing common values
This policy aims to attract patrons to support the museum and to participate in clearly identifiable projects. To achieve this, they must share the project values imposed by the museum – either they share a philosophy, or they represent the strategy or particular expertise of the patron group. In all cases, for a company to work alongside the musée du quai Branly, it must commit fully to the museum’s policies, uphold its moral fibre, and resolve to open up to the world and to the countries where the works exhibited are produced.
La Société des Amis (The Society of Friends) of the musée du quai Branly
In addition to its patronage policy, the musée du quai Branly counts on the support of the Society of Friends which, created in 2002, today has over 300 members, companies and individuals, in France and abroad. The Society of Friends supports the museum in all its missions and promotes its development and influence. It plays a key role in appealing to donators – whose commitment funded among others the restoration of the Kaiget Seligmann mast in 2003 and the Moai head in 2004. Chaired by Louis Schweitzer, the Society is open to everyone and offers privileged access to the museum and information about special events.
Le Cercle des Grands Mécènes (The Circle of Great Patrons)
From the outset, major companies have sought to work alongside the musée du quai Branly, bringing their support to an array of key architectural creations and the acquisition of significant works of art… These companies, funding a total of 1 million euros, are now part of the Circle of Great Patrons. The group Pernod Ricard became the first member in 2003, by helping to finance the creation of the museum pools, and was quickly joined in 2004 and 2005 by other contributors: AXA, Caisse des Dépôts, Gaz de France, Schneider Electric, Ixis C&B Groupe Caisse d’Epargne and Fondation EDF.
A composite museum
An architecture designed around the collections
The building in figures
> 25,100 m2 of land
> 40,600 m2 of buildings
> 18,000 m2 of garden
> 2,500 m2 of terrace
> The collections area covers 4,750 m2,
beneath a metal megastructure 220 m long,
whose 3,400 tonnes
are supported at a height of 10 m above the floor.
> 3 suspended galleries,
2 of which are for thematic exhibitions
(800 m2 on the west side and
600 m2 on the east), and
1 for multimedia stations
providing anthropological information.
> Foundations protected and waterproofed
by an underground concrete wall 750 m long and
from 20 m to 30 m deep.
> The north frontage
is composed of 1,500 glass lozenges
forming a stained-glass window 200 m long and
9 m high.
> 1 garden gallery with a surface area of 2,000 m2
for international temporary exhibitions.
> 2 restaurants.
> 1 book and gift shop.
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Presence-absence or selective dematerialisation
“This is a museum built around a collection. Where everything serves to draw out the emotions at play within the tribal artefact, where everything is on hand to shield it from the light while capturing that solitary sunbeam so indispensable to its vibrancy and spirituality. It is a place marked by symbols of forest and river, and the obsessions of death and oblivion. It is a sanctuary for the scorned and censured works produced not so long ago in Australia and America. It is a haunted place, wherein dwell and converse the ancestral spirits of those who awoke to the human condition and invented gods and beliefs. It is a strange, unique place. Poetic and disturbing.
It can only be constructed by challenging the expression of our present Western contingencies. Farewell to structures, fluidity, frontage joinery, safety staircases, railings, false ceilings, projectors, pedestals, showcases and wall clocks… If they must exist, let them be out of our sight and mind, let them step aside from the sacred artefacts on view and allow us room for communion. Easy enough to say, not so easy to accomplish…
And the resulting architecture will be of an unexpected character. Archaism? An expression of regression? No, on the contrary, to achieve the desired result, highly specialised techniques are called for: windows are large, very large and very clear, often printed with vast photographs; randomly sized and positioned pillars assume the aspects of trees or totem poles… But the means are unimportant – what counts is the result: material form seems to melt away, and we have the impression that the museum is a simple sanctuary without walls, set in a wood. When dematerialisation meets expression of signs, it becomes selective. Here, illusion cradles the work of art.
The poetics of its location remain to be invented: a gradual shift in perception, where the Parisian garden becomes a sacred wood and the museum dissolves in its depths.”
Jean Nouvel’s letter of intent for the international architecture competition (1999)
A composite museum
Founding principles for a collections site page 38
4 buildings, 1 museum page 39
Diversity as a guiding architectural principle page 41
A museum that respects its immediate and overall environment page 42
The garden: a natural setting for the museum page 43
Founding principle
for a collections site
To offer African, Asian, Oceanian and American arts and civilisations a place worthy of them, to mirror the development of the way in which such arts are appreciated, and to integrate with while standing out from a dense, monumental urban fabric – such are the founding principles upon which the Jean Nouvel Agency based itself in order to provide a solution as faithful to its aims as it is innovative.
The musée du quai Branly architectural project is an atypical one, bearing witness to the maturity of the architect’s work. On an exceptionally fine site, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower and on the banks of the Seine, it admirably meets all requirements in terms of image, identity, accessibility and urban integration. “Presence-absence” and “selective dematerialisation” are the key phrases in the building and museographic design as orchestrated by Jean Nouvel. In the architect’s view, the museum must pay homage to, even step aside before, the non-Western arts and civilisations it houses, while highlighting their historical richness along with their magical and religious import.
Liberation from Western references
Liberation from such Western architectural references as barriers, showcases, railings and false ceilings, and invention of an environment appropriate to the arts and civilisations of the four continents in question – such were the main guidelines of the architectural project.
Sheltered by a transparent and protective glass façade, the “garden-forest” becomes a perfect natural setting for the museum: a magical spot common to all four continents, organic, mysterious, alive, a place where darkness and light alternate with one another. A long walkway supported by piles, the main museum building seems to rest upon the garden canopy, with ‘boxes’ projecting from its side for exhibition of works.
Visitors become explorers, crossing this undulating garden, this riot of seemingly wild vegetation, to reach the museum reception hall, then make their way up a gently sloping ramp to the collections area.
Inside, all is in half-light. Subdued lighting is essential to conservation of the works on display, and allows their poetry to filter through to the beholder. Mystery is the keynote, with the technical environment blanked out in favour of a refined scenography enabling unobtrusive arrangement of displays and of the many sources of information available.
The architecture possesses its own style of modernity, its own non-Western language playing on the emotions and on visitors’ sense of disorientation, breaking from the traditional codes governing museums.
The Ramp
The Ramp is a 180-metre long passageway leading from the museum entrance hall up to the collections area. Following this gentle slope, visitors will
encounter the Glass Tower, housing the musical instruments reserves and the temporary exhibition areas, while the bend of a curve gives way to new spaces to discover. A work of art in its own right, welded together by 7.50 m elements, the Ramp has been construed as a bridge to the many works on display.
Contemporary Aborigine works integrated into the architectural project
Creation of bridges between cultures and promotion of non-Western contemporary art are both at the core of the musée du quai Branly mission. With this in mind, Jean Nouvel had the idea of introducing Australian Aboriginal art on the frontage and ceilings of the rue de l’Université building. Wishing to marry artistic discovery with necessity, the musée du quai Branly and Australian institutions welcomed this suggestion enthusiastically. After eighteen months of close collaboration between French and Australian curators, and with the material support of their respective governments, eight artists were selected to take part in the project: Pady Nyunkuny Bedford, John Mawurndjul, Ningura Napurrula, Lena Nyadbi, Michael Riley, Judy Watson, Tommy Watson, and Gulumbu Yunupingu. In 2004, this original step, carried out under the patronage of Véolia, AM Conseil and Bruno Roger, resulted in the creation of frescoes visible from inside and outside the building – a meeting of age-old artistic heritage with the French tradition of commissioning artists for emblematic institutions which today bears novel witness to the vitality of this type of art.
4 buildings, 1 museum
The musée du quai Branly comprises four separate buildings, each with its own architecture, linked by walkways and footbridges. Designed to meet the specific needs of the establishment and its various departments and directorates, they seem to be autonomous entities within the museum, but are in total harmony both with one another and with their urban surroundings.
The Museum building
The Museum building is the heart of the 5-level project, and is divided up into areas of varying geometry, each an original way of meeting the museum’s requirements regarding conservation and enhancement of collections, teaching, and research. Everything is curved, fluid, transparent and, above all, warmly atmospheric.
It is here that the works are exhibited and accessible. The glass tower – reserved for musical instruments – welcomes the visitor in, inviting him to make his way along the great ramp to the collections area, an unpartitioned encircling gallery gradually sloping upwards. The ‘boxes’ along its north face constitute more intimate exhibition spaces for the visitor to enjoy. Two suspended galleries at either end of this area provide space for temporary exhibitions enabling exploration of collections by theme or by issue. The Garden Gallery’s 2,000 m2 on the ground floor provides space for up to 4 international exhibitions each year. The 6,000 m2 of reserve space make up a novel work area for curators and researchers. The auditorium, along with the theatre, projection room and classrooms, helps evidence, in parallel with the collections, the vitality and relevance of artistic creation by the different civilisations of the four continents in question. The mediatheque, designed especially for students and researchers, overlooks the terrace.
From the outside, on the River Seine side, the visitor will see a long walkway rising up over the garden. Warmly coloured and partly wood-covered, its form echoes the bend in the river and its glass façade, imprinted with vegetal motifs, is set with multicoloured “boxes” of various sizes, the effect produced being that of a row of boxlike huts rising up out of the forest.
The building’s structure, impressive as it is, is altogether invisible. Twenty-six randomly placed pillars support a 220-metre long metal framework – discreet homage to the neighbouring Eiffel Tower.
The roof has been voluntarily limited to a height of 21 m, in order to keep it in tune with its surroundings and out of respect for neighbouring residents, and is topped by a terrace offering spectacular views of the Chaillot Hill, its gardens, and the banks of the Seine as far as the Grand Palais.
The Branly building
The Branly building stands to the northwest, facing the quay.
The building, with its vegetal wall designed by the botanist and CNRS researcher Patrick Blanc, is mainly for administrative purposes, with a total surface area of 2,250 m2 on five storeys, accommodating 140 workstations as well as a hundred-seat cinema. Its frontage, a direct prolongation of the Haussmannian building it adjoins, curves and narrows to vanishing point before the glass wall protecting the garden. On the courtyard side, the glass façade is shaded by orange-coloured mobile sliding awnings. The boardroom is at the top of the building, its main picture window of exceptional size.
The Auvent building
The Auvent building is slotted between the Museum building and the Branly building, from which it is accessible by means of transparent walkways. With its glass and metal façade abutting the gables of the avenue de La Bourbonnais, it has all the peace and quiet of a courtyard building. Its 1,300 m2 surface area accommodates the mediatheque storage areas (180,000 volumes and 700,000 photographs and sound documents), the Jacques Kerchache reading-room, the special collections consulting room, and a children’s discovery workshop.
The Université building
To the south, the rue de l’Université building’s architecture is of glass and stone, helping to fix the museum firmly in its district. The ground floor of this 1,500 m2 building accommodates the book and gift shop, which is open to the public, while the other floors house restoration workshops along with the 30 workstations required for collections management. One point of similarity with the arrondissement’s Haussmannian edifices is that the building reproduces the same ceiling heights, enabling them to be seen from the outside, in this case presenting frescoes painted by contemporary Australian Aborigine artists.
Visibility for reserve items: the Glass Tower of musical instruments
The musical instrument reserve (a total of 620 m2 on six levels) is both an architectural feat and a museographic innovation, housing almost 9,500 items, and enabling visitors to penetrate to the very heart of the museum. A glass column 16 m in diameter, it extends right through the museum from the auditorium to the collections area. Its creation was sponsored by the Caisse des Dépôts, and required assembly of 220 arched windows to a height of 24 m.
A restaurant in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower
The musée du quai Branly terrace forms a new relationship with the Parisian landscape. At its eastern end, the restaurant’s architecture creates a visual dialogue with the Eiffel Tower, which overlooks it. This remarkable work of architecture is crowned with a dome made up of a myriad triangular glass panes set in an aluminium framework.
Diversity
as a guiding architectural principle
Thanks to a clearly defined and stable architectural programme, the project has enabled Jean Nouvel to create one of his finest masterpieces, uniting perfect functionality, remarkable complementarity with the bend in the River Seine, and a virtuoso mastery of space.
Due to the proximity of the River Seine, the first stages of construction were devoted to major waterproofing and foundation work. A moulded underground wall 750 m long by 20 m to 30 m deep encircles the whole building, protecting the museum and its collections from the river. The site is also protected against flooding, with clayey earth walls and merlons hidden in the miniature valleys of the garden, ready to meet any future overflowing of the Seine higher than the centennial flood of 1910.
Skilfully calculated haphazardness
Resting on a 220-metre long metal framework, the building is a two-part structure united by an expansion joint and supported by 26 randomly placed metal posts. This configuration complicated the completion of the metal framework, which had to take into account the inclusion of numerous corbelled scenographic “boxes” over the garden.
One of the main architectural problems was to maintain the proportions laid out by Jean Nouvel by masking the 3,500 tonnes of steel composing the megastructure, which effectively vanished from sight beneath a plaster cover with a hand-mixed lime coating.
Inside the building, the pillars are covered with traditional coatings mirroring nature, and seem to have taken root in the gently sloping floor. Here and there, random shimmerings of light evoke sunbeams piercing the forest canopy.
The “boxes”, a source of harmonious irregularity
Thirty boxes with metal frameworks and of varying sizes are set along the building’s northern facade, each extending the cantilever length to 15 m. These “scenographic” boxes create more intimate exhibition settings within the collections area, and display artefacts grouped together by common origin or theme.
Lighting by Yann Kersalé
For his project, which was financed by the EDF Foundation, the artist wished to suppress functional devices as far as possible: light is incorporated into architecture, with vegetable matter as its source. Central to Lô (the generic title given to Yann Kersalé’s musée du quai Branly project) is an allegorical lake beneath the Museum building, presenting water in its three states, depending on the current state of the weather. White is the dominant colour, with a greenish tint to evoke steam and bluish for its liquid state. The facade shimmers with a play of light and shadow orchestrated by the trees, while the other installations – in the glades, the open-air theatre, the terrace, the ponds, etc. – manipulate the musée du quai Branly’s lighting in their own special way.
The vegetal wall, a haven of biodiversity in urban surroundings
The idea for a vegetal wall came from observations made by Patrick Blanc, landscapist, botanist and researcher at the CNRS (National Council for Scientific Research). Noting that, in regularly watered surroundings, plant life tends to overrun most available supports, trees and sloping rocks in particular, the researcher invented and patented a process making it possible to cover urban surfaces hitherto hostile to plants with vegetation.
This 800m2 vegetal decoration is composed of some 15,000 plants – one of the largest of its kind ever created – and, apart from its aesthetic appeal, acts as an original form of protection for the Branly building, as well as being a not inconsiderable environmental contribution to its urban setting. Watering is effected by a set of regularly pierced hosepipes, superposed from the summit on down, and keeps up a minimum humidity level while distributing a nutritive solution – a simple and reliable system, easy to maintain and with a lifespan of at least thirty years.
An open-air theatre for the public at large
The open-air theatre is an amphitheatre located in the lower part of the garden, with seating tiered to garden relief for shows and open-air lectures. It faces the Claude Lévi-Strauss theatre, and the two open on to one another to form a single theatrical venue when required.
A museum that respects its immediate and overall environment
Well aware of the current problematics of sustainable development, the musée du quai Branly is determined to respect its immediate and overall environment to the full…
From the very beginnings of the project, those concerned have been determined that the museum should maintain a fully developed environmental policy based on the latest HEQ (High Environmental Quality) norms. This determination has been evident at every stage of construction, in consistency with the feasibility studies. Green spaces account for over 70% of site surface area, for the most part planted with locally grown species. A residual water reclamation system limits consumption, and paints used are solvent-free. Materials have also been selected with the greatest care as regards any environmental consequences their use might have. Glass, for example, which is widely used throughout the museum, is a highly ecological choice. The many glassed areas cut down lighting requirements and do away with continual repainting, and the 99% filtered glass installed on either side of the collections area helps in air-conditioning the premises by preventing increases in interior temperature.
The environment, a concern for everyone at the museum
In parallel with its overall policy, the museum encourages all its associates to take care of their environment. Daily watchfulness and “civic-mindedness” substantially reduce environmental damage, in conformity with the charter of eco-responsibility. Use of emails and recycled paper for internal documents, and the bicycle garage available at the museum all help to ensure that museum functioning is truly in line with its sustainable development policy. Furthermore, out of regard for its associates’ health, workspaces are all strictly non-smoking areas and, upon request, the museum offers its employees a month of anti-smoking treatment free of charge.
Vegetable life, an omnipresent feature
With an 18,000 m2 garden, an 800 m2 vegetal wall, and thousands of different species planted on the site, the museum provides an extensive, accessible and highly diverse green space in the very heart of Paris, with the most common species being given place of honour in its design.
Trees selected for its creation come from nurseries or possess certificates of origin, and the few rare species planted on the site did not give rise to any wild deforestation.
The garden
A natural setting for the museum
The garden covers 18,000 m2, enclosing the museum and creating an impression of wild profusion – a perfect natural setting for the collections. Footpaths, hillocks, pebbled lanes, ponds conducive to meditation and day-dreaming, and an open-air amphitheatre for shows, lectures and concerts – this new Paris garden will be a meeting-place for people of every kind.
A scenography of immersion
The task of designing the garden (whose creation was sponsored by Gaz de France) was allotted to the French gardener, landscapist and botanist Gilles Clément, who wished to break with the western tradition of order and rational symmetry, and provides instead a flexible, undulating space where modern man’s customary distance from nature is replaced by a scenography of immersion.
A covering of blond-tinted grasses, pathways designed to suggest long use and haphazard layout rather than arbitrariness and measurement, the lack of direct perspective and of lawns positioned to guide the wandering eye, the apparent indiscipline of the open woodland, the unexpected changes in relief – all come together to celebrate the organic power of nature.
This setting harks back to the riotous landscapes of the animist world, in which every living thing, from grass to tree, from insect to bird, whether high or low, faces mankind on equal terms of mutual respect. This is why the same importance has been placed upon such tiny plants as sedge and woodrush as it has upon tall-growing trees and creepers – oaks, maples, viburnum and vine… The garden’s botanical vocabulary borrows nothing from tropical exoticism, but focuses upon world flora that is at home in the Parisian climate.
The museum’s architecture leaves a central part of the ground free to connect the two tree-filled areas of this wooded savannah. To the north are the great trees and creepers rearing to the terrace-roof, to the south small and medium-height flowering trees (Cherry and Magnolia) allow the sun’s rays to strike the building’s facade. And where pathways cross, the “glades” cleared at their meeting provide opportunity for a break in the itinerary.
A form evoked: the tortoise
All forms and artefacts to do with the glades are designed to evoke the tortoise, a mythic creature holding a special place in the animistic and polytheistic cosmogonies whose sacred works are collected by the museum. In Asia, the tortoise Bedawang (a mythical being from times before incursion of Balinese polytheistic influences) carried the universe on its back; in Africa (Dogon country), the seat upon which a guilty party is placed to make his confession is a tortoise; in Amazonia, some peoples shape their tribal camps like tortoises, with the tail pointing towards the river – an essential marker in the midst of the forest.
The tortoise is never literally represented in the garden. Although all elements that might evoke the creature could not be included, the oval of its shell appears everywhere, outlining the shape of a glade, in the design of a bench, rising from a pathway in the guise of a mossy rock, or set in the midst of the garden as a creeper-covered shelter.
Finally, a randomly shaped pond marks the boundary along the rue de l’Université – a water garden planted with bulrushes and reed mace, through which snakes a grille designed as a tangle of metallic reeds.
Protection without sealing off the world: the glass walkway
In the extension of the Branly building, the museum is circumscribed by an impressive glass walkway 12-metre high and 200-metre long, and echoing the slight bend in the River Seine. Architecturally, the walkway ensures continuity of the frontage, which is sparsely built up on the quay side. It also helps with communications, informing the public of museum events and activities, while acting as a sound barrier protecting garden and museum from traffic noise. Its transparent walls ensure the walkway a tranquillity ideal for meditation and relaxation, without sealing it off from its urban surroundings.
programme
2006-2007
.
The exhibitions
About the collections
Six “special theme exhibitions” will be held in the suspended East Gallery where a select choice of the museum’s collections will be on display.
From 23 June to 17 December 2006
“ We have eaten the forest…”, Georges Condominas in Vietnam
From 23 June to 17 December 2006
Ciwara, African chimera
From 12 February to 13 May 2007
The first nations, royal collections: the Plains Indians and the North American Prairies
From 12 February to 13 May 2007
“Le Yucatan est ailleurs”, Désiré Charnay’s photographic exhibitions
From 18 June to 16 September 2007
North of Sumatra: the Batak
Blessed objects. The restoration in Africa
In the suspended West Gallery, the great anthropological exhibition focuses perennially on the universal issues surrounding relations between peoples.
From 23 June 2006 to 25 November 2007
The anthropological exhibition: “Qu’est-ce qu’un corps”
International exhibitions
In the Garden Gallery, international exhibitions on temporary display are comprised of collections from the musée du quai Branly and major foreign museums along with works by contemporary artists.
From 18 September 2006 to 21 January 2007
“D’Un Regard l’Autre”
From 2 April to 15 July 2007
New Ireland, Arts from the South Pacific
From 2 April to 8 July 2007
“Jardin d’amour”, exhibit by Yinka Shonibare
The museum theatre
living arts, debates ans encounters, cinema
Theatre, dance and music
For its first season, the musée du quai Branly is putting on twenty shows in five cycles. This programme is based on the theme “Poésie, des mots et des hommes” (Poetry, the words and the people).
Cycle 1. from 29 September to 8 October 2006
The “Mahabharata”, a universal epic
Three shows will show how, from Ancient India to modern day Japan, original poetry and epic narratives become ritual theatre.
“Krishnacharitam, La Geste de Krishna Extraits du Krishnacharitam – Conte”
(The Gest of Krishna, a tale)
Kapila Venu and the Irinjalakuda troop (India)..
“Mahabharata” (Puppet show)
Massimo Schuster, Arc-en-Terre Theatre.
“Mahabharata” (Episode of King Nara)
Ku Na’uka Theatre Company (Japan).
Cycle 2. December 2006
Programme being organised.
Cycle 3. from 1 to 4 February 2007
“Les esprits écoutent” (The spirits are listening) – Shamanism in Siberia
This cycle offers visitors a first insight into music and song traditions, inspired by Shamanism over the expansive territory of Siberia. Lectures will be given to introduce these performances.
Cycle 4. from 28 March to 1 April 2007
Repentistas, the Punto tradition, sung and improvised poetry
The Punto is a real verbal sparring match held in Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries. The cycle focuses on Cuba, where the Punto has evolved and is practised by cowherd poets.
Cycle 5. from 14 to 17 June 2007
“Desert blues”: sand poets and griots
With over 21 major artists from traditional Africa, this multimedia performance showcases some of the finest Mali musical traditions. “Desert Blues”, created for the Théâtre du quai Branly, is a musical and multimedia journey uniting the Desert Tuaregs, the Songhai from the Niger loop and the Bambara from Mandingue country on one stage.
Shows for children
During the school holidays, the musée du quai Branly will give children and their parents the chance to learn about music, theatre or choreography from other worlds.
Cycle 1: over Christmas holidays, 3, 5 and 6 January 2007 at 3 pm.
Cycle 2: during February break, 21, 23 and 24 February 2007 at 3 pm.
Cycle 3: over Easter holidays, 18, 20 and 21 April 2007 at 3 pm.
Debates and encounters
The uUniversité populaire » du quai Branly opens debate on historical and contemporary issues and encourages discussion of topics relating to the “Other”.
Cycle 1. October 2006 – April 2007
Global history of colonisation
Cycle 2. September 2006 – April 2007
The great controversies on universality
Cycle 3. January 2007
Lectures “Artists and their attitude to the body”
Cycle 4. monthly
The Great Witnesses
Weekend devoted to Paul-Emile Victor
10-11 March 2007
Cinema
In the cinema room, the musée du quai Branly will show fictions, documentaries and archive reels accorded with the theatre programme or on the basis of specific themes.
Cycle 1. from 18 to 22 October 2006
“Regards comparés” (Compared views): immigration, assimilation, integration
Cycle 2. from 10 to 25 March 2007
Based on Paul-Emile Victor, images of poles
Exhibit from 11 September to 13 November 2006
“La Bouche du roi” (The King’s Mouth), a contemporary work of art by the Benin artist Romuald Hazoumé, will be on display in the theatre entrance hall.
Débats et rencontres
« L’université populaire » du quai Branly ouvre le débat sur des enjeux historiques et contemporains, et encourage le dialogue sur les questions liées à l’Autre.
Cycle 1. Histoire mondiale de la colonisation et de la décolonisation
Octobre 2006 – avril 2007.
Cycle 2. Les grandes controverses sur l’universalité
Septembre 2006 – avril 2007.
Cycle 3. Conférences « les artistes et leur rapport au corps »
Janvier 2007.
Cycle 4. Les Grands Témoins (tous les mois)
Week-end consacré à Paul-Emile Victor
10-11 mars 2007
Cinéma
Dans la salle de cinéma, le musée du quai Branly projette des films de fiction, des documentaires ou des images d’archives, en lien avec la programmation des spectacles ou selon des thèmes spécifiques.
Cycle 1. « Regards comparés » : immigration, assimilation, intégration
Du 18 au 22 octobre 2006.
Cycle 2. Autour de Paul-Émile Victor, images des pôles.
Du 10 au 25 mars 2007.
Installation
La Bouche du roi, installation d’art contemporain de l’artiste béninois Romuald Hazoumé, occupera le foyer du théâtre du 11 septembre au 13 novembre 2006.
Visits, workshops, experiments
A selection of cultural activities is proposed to visitors of the musée du quai Branly.
Discover
Workshops and visits are a general orientation to the museum’s wealth:
- “Discover the museum” visit (architectural tour)
- “Discover the collections” visit (arts and cultures from four continents)
- “Question/answer” visit (tour and discussion)
- “Discover Africa”, “Discover Asia”, “Discover America” and “Discover Oceania” visits
- Temporary exhibitions visit
- “Becoming an ethnologist” workshop
Explore
Transversal visits and workshops break down the geographical walls and weave visual and thematic threads between artefacts
- “Powerful beauties” visit
- “The secret of the mask” visit
- “Not so dumb” visit « Bestiaire » (ou « Visite SAFARI » – à confirmer AMO/HCE/CDU)» ou visite « Safari »
- “In all sounds” workshop
Encounter
Activities organised in workshop to give better understanding of the “Other” through experiments structured around three approaches:
Discover living arts
“Indian choreography”
“Sanzas”
“Becoming a griot”
Experiment in the footsteps of contemporary artists:
encounter-performance with Yinka Shonibare
Taking part in an ethical discussion:
“Fair!”
“The other toy”
Travel
“Journeys” organized to introduce visitors to Other Places to dispel exotic fantasy and come face to face with the civilisations of today caught between cultural identities and globalisation. Two options are offered:
- Visits with narratives
- “One-day journey”: Mali, Mexico, Thailand… a quarterly destination without leaving Paris.
Celebrate
The great folk or ritual festivals are given a special place at the musée du quai Branly,. A programme enabling all types of visitors to come together during diverse and multi-coloured events.
Exceptional “Melting Pot” evenings
Traditional festivals once a quarter (Diwali in October, carnivals in February, Gnawa in June…)
Heritage Days
(16-17 September 2006)
Seminar on disability in the world spring 2007
Sleepless night 29 September 2007
CIWARA - African chimeraCHIMERES AFRICAINES
23 June - 15 December 2006
One of the first temporary exhibitions to be held at the musée du quai Branly will be devoted to antelope crest masks, Ciwara, a part of Bamana art in Mali. Often comprising several anthropomorphic or animal figures, these “African chimera” form a key and federative element of Bamana culture and life and for neighbouring civilisations too: Malinke, Bozo or Senufo...
Mask or sculpture?
In carved, engraved, patinated and painted wood, decorated with horsehair beads and bobbles, the ciwara may be defined as a sculpture worn on the head by dancers. ciwara (also called wara-kun, wara-ba-kun, nama-koro-kun or sogo-ni-kun, depending on location) come in a variety of styles depending on region and period in time. This exhibition seeks to bring together in one display what the scientific world knows to date about the ciwara on the basis of research conducted over the last twenty or so years, and to introduce the new elements available. Open to everyone, it also aims to give insight into this cult – the era and place of origin of which are unknown – from an aesthetic point of view.
Since the crest masks, costume and dance associated here are inextricably linked with the beneficence that these masks bestow, the exhibition also presents the cult as it is was practised through photographs and films made in the regions concerned.
An artefact with beneficial powers
The exhibition shows visitors the traditional aspect of Bamana society. Ciwara dances take place in the daytime, at the start of the rainy season, in the fields and in the village. Related to farming rites, they celebrate the mythical union of the sun, a male principle, and the earth, a female principle, while stimulating the ardour of young farmers. The ciwara, which generally perform in pairs, may have a different use village to village: during mourning, for example, to bestow benefits or to counteract snakebites. Its magical power lies in sacred objects called boliw, without which the mask is just a useless object. It is a federative and protective object for the community, especially since while it is worn by the initiated alone, it can be seen by all. Spread far and wide throughout Mali in the past, the ciwara cult has been dropped through time and is now only practised in a few villages today.
Four styles of ciwara attributed
While we cannot really identify the “masters” of crest art, four main styles, with very diverse forms but linked by the intended use of the headdresses, are on display in the suspended East Gallery. The Bougouni style presents several animal motifs combined on the same piece of wood. The stylised mane is zigzagged and the antelope’s body is based on a hybrid animal, blending antelope and other species such as aardvark, pangolin or guinea-fowl. Two antelopes may also be superposed, often with another animal of a more or less abstract style. The style of the Beledougou, that can be found in the Bamako area of influence and north of the river Niger, displays a horizontal structure: the upper part features an antelope’s head, often with truncated horns, while the lower part comprises a convex-shaped animal, difficult to identify. The antelopes associated with the Segou style give the impression of accented verticality. The male and female can be distinguished easily: the former is larger with its genitalia clearly displayed, and the latter has straight horns and often carries a young antelope on her back. The final style of antelope crest masks is attributed, less certainly, to the Sikasso region. Refined and complex, these highly diverse masks hardly resemble antelopes at all, particularly the most remarkable of them: the nama tyétyé.
Visitors can thus view 36 of the 60 artefacts in the collection, enabling them to admire and understand the appearance, rites and beliefs associated with the ciwara of Mali Bamana art.
Lorenz Homberger
curator and deputy director of the Rietberg Museum in Zurich. He also took part in compiling the collections of the musée du quai Branly, which brought the wealth of the museum’s crest mask collection up to date.
Jean-Paul Colleyn
Africa specialist, research director at the EHESS and specialist of visual anthropology, played his part in selecting the works of art.
Aurélien Gaborit
Responsible for the Africa collections, scientific coordination
Frédéric Druot
Scenography
Media contacts:
Muriel Sassen, in charge of press relations
tel: 33 (0)1 56 61 52 87/muriel.sassen@quaibranly.fr
« NOUS AVONS MANGE LA FORETWe have eaten the forest…”
Georges Condominas in Vietnam
23 June - 15 December 2006
Sar Luk, the High Plateaux in the centre of Vietnam, 1948-1949: the ethnologist Georges Condominas sets up base for a year and a half in a Mnong Gar village and keeps a log of all the local goings-on. He lays the foundations of a new ethnology in which the researcher, while forcing himself to be as objective as possible, assumes and claims the subjective view inherent in his work. With a significant collection bequeathed by Georges Condominas, the museum devotes one of its first temporary exhibitions to him in the suspended East Gallery.
Everyday and ritual objects, musical instruments, costumes and finery, along with photographs, recordings and travel notes: the Condominas collection, with over 500 items, is a source of rare wealth and great diversity. On the one hand, the typical objects of Mnong Gar crafts show the wealth of this culture of the High Plateaux and, on the other hand, the notes, sketches, audio recordings and photographs help visitors to grasp the role that ethnography plays in the life of the village.
The ethnologist plays an active part
This new approach to ethnology opened up by André Leroi-Gourhan with the very detailed observation of the material culture of the group’s life, was developed by Georges Condominas. Total immersion into the environment being observed and familiarity with the language enhance the way the “other” is regarded.
The exhibition, structured around several reading levels, restores this view of ethnology: 140 artefacts are exhibited, each one accompanied with a sheet featuring the owner’s name, history of the artefact and the compensation that was given in exchange to obtain it. A scenographic device in the form of “wallpaper” covering the plinths and bases of the display present the documentation gathered by the ethnologist: photos, sketches and travel notes. These personal comments which have also been preserved and retranscribed, illustrate the ethnologist’s methodology.
Daily life in each era
In addition, a variety of videos and photographs present a succession of eras in the village: a video of photographs illustrating the activities of Sar Luk, and the “Return to Sar Luk” (52’), filmed in 1995. This documentary shows the return of Georges Condominas to the site of his initial research, and photos of Hoang Canh Duong, a resident of Ban Me Thuot, near Sar Luk, show how the village has changed today.
These flashbacks to different periods of Sar Luk life depict the Mnong Gar in their daily life. A principle faithful to the precepts of Georges Condominas, for whom, as the title of the work indicates, “l’exotique est quotidien” (exoticism is an everyday occurrence)
.
Exhibition commissioner: Christine HEMMET
Christine Hemmet, an ethnologist, is a lecturer at the Ecole Nationale des Langues Orientales (INALCO). She is also head of the Asia heritage unit at the musée du quai Branly, and used to be a curator at the musée de l’Homme. Among other accomplishments, she was head of the team in charge of creating the ethnographical museum in Vietnam in particular (Rockefeller prize 1999 for the best museography of Asia).
Scientific adviser:
Yves GOUDINEAU
Exhibition assistant:
Jérémy JAMMES
Scenography:
Frédéric DRUOT
The exhibition is supported by the Maison de l’Indochine.
Media contacts:
Muriel Sassen, in charge of press relations
tel: 33 (0)1 56 61 52 87 / muriel.sassen@quaibranly.fr
“What is a body?”
23 JUNE 2006 - 25 NOVEMBER 2007
The musée du quai Branly is officially opening its anthropological exhibitions in the suspended West Gallery with “What is a Body?”, a comparison between the different ways of viewing the body in the four regions of the world with emphasis placed on a common theme: the body always appears as an amalgam concealing a fundamental otherness. This exhibition fits in with the museum’s commitment to give a large public access to a high-quality scientific anthropological presentation through a clear and appealing approach.
“If I am distinct from others, it is because of my body. I may speak the same language as them, have ideas in common with them, and act alongside them, but what makes me myself is that I have my body and that I cannot share it.” For modern man, the body is the place where he believes his irreducible singularity to lie, and over which he claims to have full sovereignty. It is largely upon this notion that the typically Western concept of the individual in the moral sense is based – that is to say, the idea of an independent normative being, self-determining and representing the absolute value of the society in which he lives.
Shaking the foundations of such a notion
The exhibition “What is a Body?” seeks to shake the foundations of such a notion and, adopting the approach of comparative anthropology, to demonstrate that no human society exists, including our own, in which the body is considered as a strictly individual object of thought and action, as something private.
It is, on the contrary, always a communal entity, sovereignty of which is always to some extent shared. The body is subject to social fabrication, a process of establishing a relationship with something else, with “someone” else.
Anthropology is by definition interested in relationships. This exhibition is an illustration of that and it endeavours to shed light on the fundamental relationships that shape the body, which is a “support”.
An exhibition in four parts
The exhibition is made up of four parts illustrating, in a schematic way, the indigenous concepts of the human body in West Africa, Western Europe, New Guinea and Amazonia. This “other” which makes up the body is different in each case. It concerns:
- the dead in West Africa, where the body is thought of as the product of a relationship with ancestor beings – the dead of a lineage who are worshipped to ensure common prosperity and fertility, as the mythical founders of a village, clan or cult, represented by anthropomorphic effigies displaying traits of an accomplished social maturity (hairstyle, scarifications, finery, statutory symbols);
- the divine in Western Europe where, with Christianity, there is a notion of the body that is at once imitative and transcending: man was created in the image and likeness of God, he is both a sign and instrument of God. In the modern atheist world, the basic idea of incarnation continues, its model is no longer divine but biological: internalised, secularised, the soul takes on the form of a genetic code;
- the other sex in New Guinea, where the local theories of procreation lead to the idea that the body is a male and female amalgam. The human being is fundamentally androgynous, with nonetheless very different consequences depending on whether you are a man or a woman;
- the animal kingdom in Amazonia, where the form of the body depends on the social relationship existing between the living beings: it is human between fellow creatures who eat and live together. If it may be eaten by another or eat another, be tracked by another or hunt it, then the body is not human and appears either as prey, such as a peccary, or as a predator, such as a jaguar.
Over the 800 m2 of the suspended West Gallery, the visitors will find statues and artefacts from collections of the musée du quai Branly or on loan from other major European museums. The display also features exhibits, paintings, photos and videos which expand on the message of the anthropological presentation.
General commissioner:
Stéphane Breton
Stéphane Breton produces documentaries and is also an ethnologist. A lecturer at the Ecole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Post-graduate school of social sciences), he teaches ethnology and the anthropology of images. A specialist in Melanesia, he has lived for several years among the Wodani of West Papua highlands (Indonesian New Guinea).
Commissioners:
Eduardo Viveiro de Castros, ethnology lecturer at the Museu Nacional do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro
Anne-Christine Taylor, head of the Research and Education department at the Musée du quai Branly
Jean-Marie Schaeffer, philosopher, visual artist, Research Director at the CNRS (French national centre for scientific research)
Michael Houseman, Director of Studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes
Michèle Coquet, in charge of research at the CNRS
Scientific advisor: Christian Kaufmann
Scenography: Frédéric Druot
Contact media : Muriel Sassen, chargée des relations de presse
tél : 33 (0)1 56 61 52 87 / muriel.sassen@quaibranly.fr
Media contacts:
Muriel Sassen, in charge of press relations
tel: 33 (0)1 56 61 52 87 / muriel.sassen@quaibranly.fr
Useful information about the musée du quai Branly
téléphone
01 56 61 72 72
mail
contact@quaibranly.fr
Website
quaibranly.fr
GENERAL INFORMATION
VISITING HOURS
Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6:30 pm
Group admission starting at 9 am
Open late on Thursdays until 10 pm
Closed on Mondays
SPECIAL VISITING HOURS AND FREE ADMISSION FOR THE WEEKEND OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING
Friday 23 June 2006: 10 am - 6:30 pm
Open non-stop from Saturday 24 June 2006 starting at 10 am to Sunday 25 June 2006 at 6:30 pm
PRICES
ADMISSION tICKET TO THE musée du quai Branly (Collections area)
Full rate: €8.50
Reduced rate: €6
(students)
EXHIBITIONS
Special theme and anthropological exhibitions
The admission ticket to the musée du quai Branly also gives access to special theme and anthropological exhibitions (Collections area and suspended Galleries).
Full rate: €8.50
Reduced rate: €6
(under 25s and students)
Temporary international exhibitions
Tickets to the temporary international exhibitions (Garden Gallery) are purchased separately from the admission ticket to the museum’s collections area.
Full rate: €8.50
Reduced rate: €6 (under 25s, students and researchers at the musée du quai Branly)
Free: for under 18 year olds, the unemployed, people on income support, disabled ex-servicemen and civilians, journalists, people with a “culture” card, Friends of the museum, people with the “Pass musée du quai Branly”, ICOM and ICOMOS members.
A “day in the museum” ticket gives access to collections area (including anthropological and special theme exhibitions) + temporary international exhibitions.
Full rate: €13
Reduced rate: €9.50
Membership
The “Pass musée du quai Branly” gives unlimited access to all the museum areas, priority access during busy periods and discounts for shows at the theatre.
The Pass is available at €15 for young people and €45 for one adult or €70 for two (Duo).
Pass quai Branly: €45
Pass quai Branly Duo: €70
Pass quai Branly Collectivité (Group): €35
Pass quai Branly Jeunes (Young people): €15
THE MUSEUM THEATRE
Prices for shows
Two different rates according to seats:
Rate A (South tier): €20 (full rate) / €14 (reduced rate)
Rate B (North tier): €14 (full rate) / €10.50 (reduced rate)
Reduced rate: groups of 15 people and over, under 25s, the unemployed, people on income support, disabled ex-servicemen and civilians, journalists, people with a “culture” card, “Pass quai Branly” or researchers of the musée du quai Branly card and Friends of the museum.
Prices for children
Fixed rate: €8
Reduced rate (groups of 10 people and over): €5.50
Lectures and debates
Free admission
Cinema
Full rate: €5
Reduced rate: €3.50
Reduced rate: under 25s, the unemployed, people on income support, disabled ex-servicemen and civilians, journalists, people with a “culture” card, “Pass quai Branly” or researchers of the musée du quai Branly card and Friends of the museum.
VISITS and WORKSHOPS
Individual rates (excluding admission fee):
Guided tour/narrative visit: €8 (full rate) / €6 (reduced rate)
Question/answer visit: €5 (full rate) / €3.50 (reduced rate)
One-day journey: €30 (full rate) / €21 (reduced rate)
Workshop for adults: €10 (full rate) / €7 (reduced rate)
Workshop for children: €8 (fixed rate)
Group rates:
Guided tours: €130 (full rate) / €87 (reduced rate) / €70 (school groups)
Workshops for adults: €200 (full rate) / €134 (reduced rate)
Workshops for children: €130 (full rate) / €100 (school groups)
Audioguide
L’audioguide du musée du quai Branly est le résultat d’un travail de fond sur les contenus et les formats. Adapté à la variété des publics, il se décline en cinq langues et propose une première sélection d’œuvres sur lesquelles poser son regard. L’audioguide du musée du quai Branly permet au visiteur de se « plonger » dans une ambiance sonore en résonance avec les objets présentés, grâce à un travail proche du « mix radiophonique ». Le commentaire invite le visiteur à mieux regarder les œuvres, en maintenant un lien constant entre les objets – formes, techniques, matières – et les explications délivrées.
THE WEBSITE
- a vehicle to increase accessibility to the museum for everyone with daily updates and an easy-to-use formatest. The home page looks like the front page of a newspaper and focuses on the museum’s latest news.
- a way to prepare for a visit and explore all the collections. Visitors will find useful information on organising their visit, their arrival (as a family, for a disabled person, etc.) and the time they have to tour the museum.
- a scientific reference with a look at the latest developments and a directory linking to other scientific websites.
- a virtual concourse with chat rooms for the general public and specialists as well as people involved in the world of art or in research,: , blogs, forums, “cartes blanches” à des artistes.
- a library of on-line publications.
- with sign language programmes for people with sensory handicaps.
Getting there by foot
The museum entrances are on the rue de l’Université and the quai Branly.
- Université entrance: 218 rue de l’Université
- “Bassins” or reflection pool entrance: 206 rue de l’Université
- Alma entrance: 27 quai Branly
- Debilly entrance: 37 quai Branly, opposite Passerelle Debilly
- Branly entrance: 51 quai Branly
By metro: Pont de l’Alma (RER C), Bir Hakeim (line no. 6), Alma-Marceau (line no. 9), Iéna (line no. 9).
By bus: no. 42 get off at La Bourdonnais or Bosquet-Rapp; nos 63, 80, 92 get off at Bosquet-Rapp; no. 72 get off at the modern art museum – Palais de Tokyo
Via la Seine river: get off at the Eiffel Tower (Batobus, Bateaux parisiens and Vedettes de Paris).
By car
Car park (paying) at 25 quai Branly.
The pedestrian exit is rue de l’Université, at the garden perimeter.
Three levels of 520 parking spaces
Saemes manages the car park.
Information
Telephone: +33 (0)1 56 61 71 72
Email: contact@quaibranly.fr
Website: quaibranly.fr
Refreshments at the musée du quai Branly
The musée du quai Branly terrace restaurant can seat 130 people. There is also a cafeteria in the museum that can accommodate 120 and a café with 80-place capacity at the garden level.
The restaurants are catered by Elio.
The book and gift shop
Situated on the ground floor of the “Université” building, the museum’s book and gift shop is managed by the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, and sells reproductions, publications, CDs and DVDs published and co-published by the museum.
To prepare a visit and keep up to date with the museum’s event, visit the website: quaibranly.fr
Organization
Organisation chart
THE MUSÉE DU QUAI BRANLY IS AN ÉTABLISSEMENT PUBLIC, A STATE-OWNED CORPORATION PLACED UNDER THE DUAL SUPERVISION OF THE MINISTRY OF RESEARCH AND HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION. IT IS PRESIDED OVER BY STÉPHANE MARTIN, PRESIDENT.
Honorary President: Jacques Friedmann
President: Stéphane Martin
Managing Director: Pierre Hanotaux
Deputy Managing Director: Patrice Januel
Chief Accountant: André Clair
Patronage department: Martine Aublet
Communications department: Nathalie Mercier
Head of International Relations: Séverine Le Guével
Head of Institutional Relations: Laurence Reculet
Head of Research: Emmanuel Désveaux
Director of the Heritage and Collections Department: Jean-Pierre Mohen
Deputy Director responsible for permanent collections: Yves Le Fur
Heritage and collections units
Africa
Americas
Oceania
Asia
Textiles
Musical instruments
Photographs
History
Assistant Director responsible for the mediatheque: Odile Grandet
Research and education department: Anne-Christine Taylor
Deputy Director of Research: Marcel Skrobek
Research units
Residents
Non-European architectural research
Education:
(UMR, GIS, etc.)
UMS 1834
Department of cultural development and the public: Hélène Cerutti
Exhibition
Auditorium
Cultural activities and development
Editing and publications
Department of administrative services and human resources: Danielle Brault
Human resources
Legal
Budget and funds
Ticket sales
Department of operations and maintenance: Nadim Callabe
Building management
Safety and security
Information systems
Board of Directors
Scientific steering committee
Acquisitions committee
Collections deposits and loans committee
Health and Safety Inspector
Internal Auditor
Architectural Programming Manager
The budget
For the muse du quai Branly
In December 1998, the budget allocated by the Government to the museum construction site and the collections handling campaign was set at €167.69 million, inclusive of tax.
In March 2000, after an inter-ministerial decision to add three new undertakings to the initial project – the mediatheque (transfer of part of the musée de l’Homme library, purchase of art works, collection handling, etc.), computer technology (development of technical solutions chosen at the start) and multimedia (extension of project) –, a stipend of €22.87 million was added to the budget, bringing the total investment, before adjustments, to €190.56 million, inclusive of tax.
In 2001, the budget was recalculated on the basis of a projected inflation rate, a common procedure on building sites spanning several years, and adjustments were made for in the amount of €25.92 million, inclusive of tax.
The total amount of the budget, including the adjustment, thus came to €216.48 million, inclusive of tax.
In 2004, the budget was increased to take account, on the one hand, of the need for additional construction work (extra fire protection for the metal framework, terracing of the foundations of the 1937 Universal Exhibition, additional premium of the site’s insurance policies, reinforcement of the moulded underground wall, etc.) and, on the other hand, of the budget adjustment following a very unfavourable rise in inflation rates in the construction field, the cost of materials and raw materials in particular (oil, steel, aluminium, etc.).
This supplement amounted to €19 million, inclusive of tax, with the museum contributing €3 million from its own working capital, a step requiring the authorisation and agreement of the two supervisory ministries, Culture and Communication on the one hand and Research and Higher Education on the other.
In detail, the budget on State endowment breaks down, inclusive of tax, as follows:
- Construction: €204.3 million
- Computer technology: €12.4 million
- Campaign for handling art works (stock-taking, restoration, digitisation): €5,7 million
- Mediatheque: €6.4 million
- Multimedia: €3.7 million
In all, the sum invested thus financed by the State amounts to €232.5 million, with an excess of around 9% for a project that began in 1998. Allocated in equal parts by the Ministry of Culture and Communications and the Ministry of Research and Education, the operational budget for 2006 is €44 million, excluding amortization and acquisition credit, both representing €2 million.
PATRONS AND DONORS
THE PATRONS
The musée du quai Branly, a unique approach to patronage
The musée du quai Branly invites patrons to support specific projects which could not be realised without their backing. In this regard, it offers a diversity of patronage projects relating to construction of the museum, creation of cultural and scientific multimedia tools, restoration of symbolic works from the museum’s collections as well as projects for acquiring works of art, implementing educational projects and organising seminars on international relations. Since 1 August 2003, the law relative to gift giving to associations and foundations has injected new interest in cultural patronage by granting a tax reduction of 60% of the amount donated by a company to organisations or activities which are in public interest. This recent law is also a sign of new appreciation accorded to patrons in the society and business world.
PERNOD RICARD, 2003
The project sponsored
In 2003, Patrick Ricard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pernod Ricard, chose to support the creation of the museum’s terrace pools, a highly spectacular feature of the structure that will line the whole of the terrace perimeter like great reflection pools. The architectural project was designed by the famous architect Jean Nouvel and will offer a new vista of surrounding Paris.
Motivation behind the commitment
The musée du quai Branly is an ambitious project that appeals for support from companies who share its values. Pernod Ricard became the first partner and this collaboration conveys a valuable message that the group holds dear, that of respecting cultures and local characteristics of the country where it is based. Patrick Ricard and Stéphane Martin, President of the museum, signed the patronage agreement on the 6th of April 2004. This act is manifest of the new vitality in cultural patronage since the enactment of the Law of 1 August 2003, and of the new appreciation accorded to patrons in society and the business world.
EURO RSCG, 2003
The project sponsored
Since 2003, the Euro RSCG group has helped steer the musée du quai Branly in both its internal and external communications strategy. The group is proud to have contributed to the museum’s press relations and its report on sustainable development.
Motivation behind the commitment
As well as being proud to participate in one of the finest cultural adventures of this turn of the millennium, Euro RSCG wished to work alongside the musée du quai Branly because of the quality and generosity of the project.
An international publicist group like Euro RSCG could not ignore the promise of giving all cultures, eras and continents their right to expression. The group sees a humanist echo of its own profession in such a project and this is the source of its support of the musée du quai Branly.
The Euro RSCG group with Stéphane Fouks, Executive Chairman of Euro RSCG Worldwide, assisted the museum until September 2005.
SONY FRANCE, 2004
SONY EUROPA FOUNDATION, 2004
The project sponsored
Sony France and Sony Europa Foundation have become patrons of the musée du quai Branly by providing computing and multimedia equipment for the study and research mediathèque (multimedia library) along with “information point” screens for the whole museum. Sony France shares the museum’s commitment to give as many people as possible the chance to discover the many facets of humanity’s heritage. Moreover, Sony Europa Foundation concluded its act of patronage to the musée du quai Branly with a financial contribution to the Jacques Kerchache reading room. Created in 1995, this foundation seeks to encourage creativity in all its forms in the fields of art, design and music.
Motivation behind the commitment
Sony France wants to associate its name and image with a key cultural event of the new millennium. Supporting an original and specialised project from an architectural, scientific and technological perspective is consistent with the values that Sony France uphold.
The musée du quai Branly, a place of contrasts and confrontations between ancestral cultures and new technologies, offers the exceptional opportunity of placing products at the cutting edge of technology at the service of the first forms of arts.
The contribution of Sony Europa Foundation rounding off Sony France’s gift of equipment was given to the Jacques Kerchache room, named after this eminent collector whose personality was so determining in the genesis of the museum project.
AUSTRALIA PROJECT,
2004 - 2005
The project
This project, espoused by Mr Jacques Chirac, President of the French Republic, Mr John Howard, Australian Prime Minister and their French and Australian ambassadors, will be a spectacular and powerful sign of the place of contemporary creation in the musée du quai Branly, with the emblematic presence of Australian art in particular.
Accordingly, contemporary creation in the Université building attests to a real bond between Australia and France, and is a tribute to contemporary Australian Aboriginal art right in the heart of Paris.
The Université building designed by the architect Jean Nouvel will house works by eight of the most renowned Australian Aboriginal artists today on the ceilings of the ground floor, 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors as well as on its façade. The ceiling paintings will be visible to passers-by in rue de l’Université.
The funding
To implement this project, the musée du quai Branly set out to find an exceptional patronage contribution of more than one million euros from corporations and private benefactors.
The museum is seeking to create a circle of three to five French companies established in Australia or Australian companies established in France who would each contribute 150,000 to 350,000 euros to the project.
The artistic project is currently supported by:
- the Australian Government via the Australia Council for the Arts and the Harold Mitchell Foundation;
- the Quai d’Orsay, via the secrétariat permanent pour le Pacifique;
two French companies: Veolia Environnement and AM Conseil; and completed by a private patron, Mr and Mrs Bruno Roger.
Thanks to these generous contributions, the museum has already received over half of the funding needed.
The musée du quai Branly is seeking to expand this initial circle of patrons and is counting on the commitment of other companies and private patrons.
ISSEY MIYAKE / SAINT GOBAIN, 2004
The project instigator
Naoki Takizawa and Issey Miyake
Naoki Takizawa, Artistic Director of Issey Miyake, has designed two giant curtains to decorate the musée du quai Branly for its opening. As a designer, Naoki Takizawa never tires of combining ancestral creative know-how with the most sophisticated technologies. “The hand of man will always be the most advanced technology for me,” he reminds us, savouring this paradox. The way in which man is inspired by nature, the way in which he interprets and transforms it, has always been at the heart of his inspiration.
The curtains were designed to prolong this experience of time and space, as expressed by a landscape or immense body leading the eye inward. They stem from the architecture that fosters a sort of organic link with its surroundings. They can be considered as skin, membrane, liquid and circulation at the same time and will act both as guards and as guides. The prevailing inspiration for their design is water. The auditorium curtain evokes the flow of a waterfall, while the temporary exhibitions curtain conjures up the image of a wall of water or a river.
SAINT-GOBAIN supports the creation
and implementation of the artistic project
For this original creation to see the light of day, support from a patron company was essential.
On 5 July 2004, Jean-Louis Beffa, President of the Saint-Gobain group, found out about the museum construction project and decided to lend support by funding one of the contemporary artistic creation projects central to Jean Nouvel’s architectural undertaking: Naoki Takizawa’s curtains.
With this patronage, Saint-Gobain pays tribute to 340 years of industrial development that germinated in France, and has since spread throughout Europe and then on to other continents to offer practical products for everyone’s comfort and daily life.
SCHNEIDER Electric, 2005
The project supported
The “Rivière” project is an invitation to travel through time and space and at the heart of the musée du quai Branly’s permanent collections.
It is a museographical visit for the general public and especially for people with motor disabilities. The museography is innovative: techniques as engraving and tattooing are used and bas-reliefs and information terminals incorporated in the leather structure. The museum turned to a number of specialists (ethnologists, researchers, architects, teachers, curators and historians) to develop a project that is at both scientifically irreproachable and understandable to everyone.
Motivation behind the commitment
Schneider Electric has defined a certain number of principles of responsibility within its firm. Keeping these in mind, Schneider Electric has adopted an approach favouring the insertion of handicapped persons over the years:
- inclusion of 6% of handicapped workers in its payroll
- signature of a 3-year agreement with unions for employing handicapped persons
- support of handicapped employees in seeking excellence in sports
- partnership agreements between the Schneider Electric Foundation and associations favouring the advancement of the handicapped
Through this powerful act of patronage to the musée du quai Branly, Schneider Electric reaffirms its commitment to integrate disabled people into civil society and become a Great Patron for the museum in 2005.
CAISSE DES DEPOTS, 2005
The project supported
As part of his architectural project, Jean Nouvel wanted to provide a special place for the collections reserve and make them visible to visitors while allowing them to discover the hidden side of the museum. He therefore designed a spectacular Glass Tower, 23 metres high with a 51-metre perimeter, which transparently shows off a reserve featuring 9,500 musical instruments from the museum’s collection.
Veritable backbone of the building, the tower plays a key and central role of the structural design. The reserve is spread out over six levels representing a total usable space of around 260 m2.
Now one of the largest in Europe, the musée du quai Branly’s collection of musical instruments is an assemblage of collections from the ethnomusicology department of the musée de l’Homme and the musée National des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, together with instruments recently acquired by the musée du quai Branly.
Motivation behind the commitment
The Caisse des Dépôts has rallied to the sides of the museum by funding the construction of the great Glass Tower displaying the museum’s musical instruments. Through this patronage, the Caisse des Dépôts confirms its commitment to music and culture and has become a member of the museum’s Circle of Great Patrons.
GAZ DE FRANCE, 2005
The project supported
Gaz de France sought to join the museum’s Circle of Great Patrons in 2005 by bringing its contribution to the 18,000 m2 of garden at the musée du quai Branly, designed by the landscape architect Gilles Clément: “The garden breaks free from the western tradition dominated by order and symmetric reason and offers a flexible, undulating space where the distance normally taken with nature is replaced here by a scenography of immersion.”
Motivation behind the commitment
Gaz de France is preoccupied by the fragility of our environment and decided to make environmental protection one of the key elements of its patronage activity. Its Foundation helps fund the restoration of Large Natural Sites, protect remarkable footpaths, create and enhance extraordinary gardens. These commitments are in tune with the messages conveyed by Gilles Clément through this exceptional garden, a site for dialogue between the museum and its surrounding vegetation, a space that is open and welcoming, a place for exchanges and culture.
IXIS CORPORATE & INVESTMENT BANK
Groupe Caisse d’Epargne, 2005
The project supported
Thanks to the creation of a documentary portal linked to a large database of 300,000 works, a museum is giving full on-line access to its collections for the first time ever. This technological challenge extends access to culture and heritage well beyond France’s borders. Produced by the museum’s education and research department as well as the CNRS, three programmes will be presented to the public in the museum’s multimedia mezzanine when it opens.
The three programmes focus on the music of the world and the diversity of musical aesthetics, anthropology and its evolution throughout history, and lastly world languages to raise the public’s awareness of the differences and similarities characterising them, in terms of their components and usages.
Motivation behind the commitment
IXIS Corporate & Investment Bank, the investment bank of the Groupe Caisse d’Epargne, has chosen to fund the technological challenge presented by the creation of the museum’s documentary portal in the same spirit as its own continual search for innovation.
The company is also associating its name with the multimedia mezzanine located at the heart of the museum’s collections, a space devoted to communicating scientific information and organizing educational activities.
With these two key projects seeking to innovate and modernise as well as to share knowledge with the whole world, IXIS Corporate & Investment Bank became a Great Patron of the museum in 2005.
FONDATION EDF, 2006
The project supported
The museum’s lighting is being handled by the lighting artist and sculptor Yann Kersalé.
The following areas will be lit up: the glass boarding, the central building, the pools on rue de l’Université, the pools on the museum terrace, the vertical garden, the open-air theatre, all of the garden paths leading to the museum, the fire escape and access to the museum restaurant.
For the main lighting of these areas, the lighting equipment will be embedded into the architecture.
Motivation behind the commitment
Through its Foundation created in 1987, EDF acts to develop patronage deeds in the cultural field and particularly the enhancement of heritage.
EDF wanted to lend its support to the musée du quai Branly and associate its name with the lighting. EDF and its Foundation are now members of the museum’s Circle of Great Patrons and helping to guide the creation of the Institution.
INDIVIDUAL PATRONS
In 2005, Martine and Bruno Roger renewed their commitment to the museum (patronage for the Australia project) by funding the artistic creation of the ceiling in the Jacques Kerchache reading room. This is a photo montage designed by the AJN agency (Ateliers Jean NOUVEL) in tribute of Jacques Kerchache.
Since 1 January 2005, the tax reduction for individuals is equal to 66% of the gifts made to organisations or activities which are in public interest, limited to 20% of taxable income.
THE PARTNERS
Opening of the pavillon des Sessions, musée du Louvre
PUBLICIS, 2000-2001
Métrobus, 2000
SCNF, 2000
AOM, 2000
Opening of the musée du quai Branly
MEDIAVISION METROBUS, 2005 and 2006
Métrobus and its parent company the Publicis group are particularly delighted and proud to be once again involved in the creation of the musée du quai Branly. Métrobus is a leading player in transport advertising and is responsible for managing and marketing the advertising spaces of the RATP and numerous other transport companies in France and abroad. For years it has taken up the mission of supporting artistic and cultural activity in all its forms and communicating on this to the public at large who are commuters. As part of this self-appointed mission to “citizens”, Métrobus Médiavision is helping to promote the art on our Earth that is still relatively unknown to the general public in its network of movie theatres.
MAISON DE L’INDOCHINE, 2006
A partner in great heritage-related exhibitions for several years, it is perfectly natural that the Maison de l’Indochine wanted to support the exhibition “We Have Eaten the Forest, Georges Condominas in Vietnam”, by organising trips for several journalists representing the French cultural press to Vietnam.
The Maison de l’Indochine embodies the charm and combined views of artists, researchers, journalists, writers and the best tourism professionals, motivated by the same passion for the culture of South-East Asia in all its dimensions.
For those who want to see and understand the changes in these new worlds, fuelled by an ancient civilisation, it is now possible to get away from the beaten track.
A team of experts fashion the tailor-made itineraries a million miles from mass tourism.
JC DECAUX, 2006
A pioneer in outdoor advertising, JCDecaux founded its development on innovation. For the Group, offering citizens new services and products designed by the greatest designers cannot be achieved without taking account of the culture of the 46 countries in which it is established. This is why JCDecaux is delighted to be supporting the musée du quai Branly, a symbol of architectural and museum creativity and in which each masterpiece is a window onto the world.
The collections of the musée du quai branly are being enriched through donated works of art
Since 1997, French and foreign collectors have enriched the museum’s collections with their donations. Numerous donations are still coming in today.
Individuals having donated since 1997
Mr Benoît Aubenas,
Mrs Patricia Aubenas,
Mr Rémy Audouin,
Axis gallery Inc.,
Mrs de Baillencourt,
Mr Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller,
Mrs Monique Barbier-Mueller,
Mrs Marie-Claire Bataille-Benguigui,
Mr Georges Benguigui,
Mrs Janine Claude Berge,
Mrs Marie-Thérèse Berger,
Mr and Mrs Jaques Blazy,
Mrs Jacqueline Bocquet,
Mr and Mrs Gérard Boëly,
Mr and Mrs Samir Borro,
Mr and Mrs Cayetana & Anthony JP Meyer,
President of the French Republic Mr Jacques Chirac,
Mrs Mireille Clausse,
Mrs Catherine Clément,
Father Convers,
Mr Pierre Dartevelle,
Mr Sebastian Dass,
Mrs Angelina Dass,
Mrs Catherine Dass,
Mrs Aube and Oona Elléouët,
Mr Asher Eskenazy,
Mrs Claudine Foulon,
Mr Léonard Giannada,
Mr Hubert Goldet,
Mr Olivier Goldet,
Mrs Guérin, Widow of Fernand Haïm,
Mr Georges Halphen,
Mr Udo Horstmann,
Mr and Mrs Jean-Charles Humbert,
Mrs Hélène Joubert,
Mr Guy Joussemet,
Mr Jacques Kerchache,
Mrs Anne Kerchache,
Mr and Mrs Marcel Korolnik,
Mr Guy Ladrière, Chef Laukalbi (Tanna tribe, Vanuatu),
Mr and Mrs Jean Mansion,
Mr Daniel Marchesseau in memory of André Fourquet,
Mr Louis Jean-Pierre Mathieu,
Mr Pierre Messmer from the Institute, The French Minister of Culture,
Mr Alain de Monbrison,
Mr Douglas Newton,
Mr Christophe Niemoller,
Mrs Patricia Oyelola,
Mr Arthur Papadimitriou,
Mr Marc Petit,
Mr and Mrs Pierre Pinson,
Radio France,
Mrs Marie-Hélène Reichlen,
Mr and Mrs Jeffrey A. Rosen, American donators in tribute of Martine Aublet and Bruno Roger,
Mrs Rueff-Pigeat,
Mr Alain Schoffel,
Mr and Mrs Guy Stresser Péan,
Mrs Pierrette Tapie,
Mr and Mrs Claude Vérité,
Mr de Vertenelle,
Mr Marcel Wislin
The AXA group bequeaths the musée du quai Branly a masterpiece from the Dogon region country
By virtue of the Laws of 2002 and of 1 August 2003 and thanks to the patronage of the AXA Group, the French State was able to acquire an African art masterpiece, a wooden statue dating back to the 10th or 11th century originating from the Djenné region west of the Dogon country (Mali). This Djennenké work bestowed to the museum will find its place among the permanent exhibition areas at the official opening on 23 June 2006.
This is the first major piece of non-European art to benefit from the provisions of the law of August 2003 relating to patronage, associations and foundations.
Aspiration of AXA’s commitment
“AXA’s commitment as a citizen company naturally follows the principles of our profession, those being the protection of individuals and companies as well as the development and passing on of their heritage. The Group has established its patronage policy which expands in each of the countries where we are based by taking account of local specificities to share art, whatever style it may be, to as many people as possible.”
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