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
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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
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A bridge museum
A museographic,
scientific and cultural
institution
dedicated to the
dialogue between
cultures and
civilizations
A multi-faceted cultural institution
4
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
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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.
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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.
January
January
Launch of an international competition for the
construction of the musée du quai Branly.
Closing of the musée national des Arts
d’Afrique et d’Océanie.
December
December
The project tendered by Architectures Jean
Nouvel, AJN-OTH Bâtiment-Ingérop, wins the
architectural competition.
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.
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
1998
Obtaining of building license.
March
September
Selection of Jean-Michel Wilmotte’s project to
design the pavillon des Sessions at the palais
du Louvre.
Installation of teams at the Berlier industrial
hotel, 15 rue Jean-Baptiste Berlier in the 13th
arrondissement.
May
October
Implementation of the acquisitions policy for
art works.
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.
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
2002
June
First archaeological digs campaign (INRAP –
National Archaeological Research Institute) on
the construction site.
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.
July
2006
Completion of the first treatment campaign
(60,000 artefacts).
23 June
Opening of the musée du quai Branly to the
public.
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
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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
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The creation of the musée du quai Branly has been an adventure ten years in the making – ten years of patiently
bringing to fruition the decision first announced by the President of the Republic in 1995 to create a museum devoted
to the arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. The project has sought to 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 non-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 from 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 its mission of promoting
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 musée du quai Branly, and will continue to evidence the
power and diversity of art works produced by peoples from far off lands.
The project’s second major phase sprang from the decision to devote special rooms to the exhibition of works from
French collections under the best possible conditions, and to 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 musée du quai Branly brings together 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 twofold vocation –
conservation and exhibition of collections, and contribution to research and education.
Some 3,500 works out of the 300,000 contained in the collections will be on permanent public view 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. 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.
Major emphasis is placed on lectures, teaching and research, activities designed to meet two objectives: develop the
production of scientific ideas and guide 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 allows for
the particular significance 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 awaken new emotions in the public, helping to raise curiosity and recognition of the genius of nonEuropean civilisations. They remind us that our history is closely linked to those of the countries that produced these
works.
Ten years after preparations began , the musée du quai Branly opens its doors to the public on 23 June this year.
Once the initial excitement about the opening of a new cultural institution in Paris has abated, it is up to visitors to let
us know whether our choices have been judicious ones and whether they live up to their expectations. The public
will have the final word whether the museum is truly the centre of exchange and dialogue that we hope it becomes.
Stéphane MARTIN
MUSEOGRAPHY
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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.
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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
A visitor’s itinerary undulating
between continents
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.
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
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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.
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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
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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 SouthEast 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
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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 19 th 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
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.
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 spearthrowers, 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.
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
8
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
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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 preColumbian 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 BlackMarrons 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.
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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.
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.
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.
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-tomeasure” 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
11
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 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 Photographic Collection
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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 subSaharan 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,
13
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 JeanMichel 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.
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.
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.
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 wellpreserved condition, to take up its present home in the Pavillon des
Sessions.
Developing and enriching the musée du quai
Branly heritage
14
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.
15
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.
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.
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 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.
16
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.
17
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 openmindedness, 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.
18
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 longRestoration 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
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 longterm 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.
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
19
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.
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.
The mediatheque in figures
Research and education
A major mission for the musée du quai Branly
20
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 AnneChristine 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
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.
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.
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
21
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.
.
Anne-Christine TAYLOR,
Director
Marcel SKROBEK,
Assistant Director
22
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
23
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.
24
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
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
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.
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
25
The musée du quai Branly seeks to deepen people’s knowledge of nonWestern 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
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
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.
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…
26
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.
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.
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.
Particular attention paid to disabled people and people
in difficult social situations
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.
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 multisensory 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.
27
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 Taoi),
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.
28
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
“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 MarieFrance Fauvet-Berthelot, a doctor of prehistory, and Leonardo
Lopez Lujan, a doctor in archaeology.
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
(www.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.
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.
29
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.
30
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
31
> 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.
.
32
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)
33
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
34
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. “Presenceabsence” 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
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.
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.
Contemporary Aborigine works integrated into the
architectural project
Creation of bridges between cultures and promotion of nonWestern 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
35
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
36
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.
37
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.
38
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 “civicmindedness” 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.
39
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 daydreaming, 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.
40
PROGRAMME
2006-2007
41
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
42
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 – 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
43
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 Université 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.
44
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
- “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
45
CIWARA - African chimera
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
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.
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.
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
Jean-Paul Colleyn
« We have eaten the forest…”
46
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 LeroiGourhan 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).
Frédéric DRUOT
Scientific adviser:
Yves GOUDINEAU
Exhibition assistant:
Jérémy JAMMES
Scenography:
Media contacts:
Muriel Sassen, in charge of press
relations
tel: 33 (0)1 56 61 52 87 /
muriel.sassen@quaibranly.fr
The exhibition is supported by the
Maison de l’Indochine.
“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
47
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:
General commissioner:
Stéphane Breton
Stéphane Breton produces documentaries and
is also an ethnologist. A lecturer at the Ecole
des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Postgraduate 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).
- 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.
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
Media contacts:
Muriel Sassen, in charge of press relations
tel: 33 (0)1 56 61 52 87 /
muriel.sassen@quaibranly.fr
48
Useful information
about the musée du quai
Branly
téléphone
01 56 61 72 72
mail
contact@quaibranly.fr
Website
www.quaibranly.fr
49
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
50
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)
THE WEBSITE
- a vehicle to increase accessibility to the museum for everyone with daily updates and an easy-to-use format. 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”.
- 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
51
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: www.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:
www.quaibranly.fr
52
Organization
53
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
54
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
55
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.
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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.
57
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 passersby 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
contributions,
these
generous
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
GOBAIN, 2004
/
SAINT
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
58
- 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.
IXIS CORPORATE &
INVESTMENT BANK
Groupe Caisse d’Epargne, 2005
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.
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.
59
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.
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 tailormade 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.
MAISON DE L’INDOCHINE,
2006
60
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.”
61