Out of this World - le musée du quai Branly

"Every aspect of a museum, gallery, or heritage site communicates. From the architectural style of the building or layout of a site, to the attendants at the entrance, the arrangement of the exhibits or artifacts, the colour of the walls, and the positioning and content of labels and text panels; all these things and more are engaged in a communicative process with the visitor." -Rhiannon Mason, Museums, galleries and heritage: Sites of meaning-making and communication

For these very reasons, even the central glass column filled with musical instruments which acts as the backboard to the musée du quai Branly can be controversial. In my opinion: it shows objects on display which--although for the most part made to be seen--are intended more so to use. It organizes objects by region with scientific numbers which further separates the visitors from the cultures the objects represent. For a museum which is meant to be so revolutionary, it's nearly as imperialistically-insulting as museums have always been. Daniel Sherman notes, "Rivet [the first director of the Musée de l'Homme] ;preferred to avoid evolutionary schemas altogether, noting that the people ethnographers would encounter in the French empire 'are as far, perhaps even farther, from their origins as we; it is just that their civilization has evolved in a different direction from ours'." In this case, few things have changed.

"Who, after all, is best qualified by experience' (what kinds?), by depth and breadth of knowledge (what knowledge?), to control and interpret an African collection," asks James Clifford in Routes: Travel and Translation in the Late Twentieth Century. I expand the question to include any culturally-affiliated collection, which in those terms basically encompasses everything found with a museum. It matters because, "for example, depending on your point of view, an African mask could be viewed as an ethnographic exhibit, a tribal artefact, a piece of art, evidence of colonial looting, the subject of a repatriation case, or simply a commodity to sell," as described in ;Museums, galleries and heritage: Sites of meaning-making and communication by Rhiannon Mason. In creating a contemporary building surrounded by an "exotic" garden with a visitor route which simulates a futuristic river, any and all objects of the museum are placed in this context which further separates the museum experience, and thus the cultural significance of the objects themselves, from the every day life and identity of the museum visitor. Thus this museum is hardly "a contact zone."

And saying as such doesn't begin to address "looted third world art," to use the loaded terms of The New York Times. Perhaps it's too much to ask, but I believe a museum that claims to be ... should "be accountable in a way that went [goes] beyond mere preservation," in the words of James Clifford. If for no other reason than because, as Eilean Hooper-Greenhill acknowledges in Changing Values in the Art Museum: Rethinking Communication and Learning: "It is time for museum professionals to acknowledge and address the power of museums, to accept that museums are necessarily implicated in cultural politics, and that, therefore, professional practices have political."

Introduction to the Musée du Quai Branly

Please note: The video blow includes iPhone-quality snapshots of permanent exhibits within the Musée du Quai Branly. The accompanying music is from the permanent exhibits as well but they have not been accurately matched with the exhibits themselves as there were more opportunities for visual display than that of audio.

musée du quai Branly

Où? 37, quai Branly 75007 Paris

Quand? Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday, 11am-7pm; Thursday-Saturday, 11am-9pm

Comment? Metro Alma-Marceau, Iéna, Ecole Militaire, Bir Hakeim 1; RER Pont de l"alma, Champ de Mars-Tour d'Eiffel; Bus 42, 92, 80, 63, 82, 72, 87, 69

The Beaubourg-Effect at le Centre Pompidou

In the past, "the building chosen to stand for the institutionalized museum is itself representative of a particular building type familiar to all of us who have visited the world's great museums," as described by Rosalind E. Krauss in Postmodernism's Museum Without Walls. 

Le Centre Pompidou, inaugurated on January 31st, 1977 as a cultural center, sought to change that notion.

Founded upon the concept of transparency as a means to create a democratic living space for the arts and the public, it appears to be inside out with structural aspects colorfully exposed.  Clearly this speaks to Stephanie Moser's reference in The Devil is the Detail: Museum Displays and the Creation of Knowledge: "'design plays a crucial role--not just in presenting content, but in actually creating it, (Serrell 2006:33)." Especially being that each color has a specific function: red=visitor circulation, yellow=electrical, blue=air, green=water.

As such, seeing the building for the first time is quite a shock. But it's nothing compared to walking inside. The main hall is open yet overwhelming with the opportunities to access a public library (Bpi), a center for industrial design (Cci), a contemporary music center (IRCAM), an auditorium, theater and cinema spaces as well as shops, cafés, a self-service post office and the acclaimed Restaurant le Georges.

There's "a heightened sense of individual free choice--a major theme of the building as a whole," similar to the MoMA museum in New York as Carol Duncan and Alan Wallach explained in The Museum of Modern Art as Late Capitalist Ritual: An Iconographic Analysis. Except, of course, that each facility has a separate entrance, fee, and security checks.

It's somewhat of a contradictory space, as Jean Baudrillard criticized in The Beaubourg-Effect: Implosion and Detterence; "a fluid communicative exterior--cool and modern--and an interior uptight with old values."

I won't say I agree completely, at least not as harsh of an extent, but I do see where he's coming from. Although intended to be revolutionary, the museum has mostly become what we expect museums to be: displayed art in an organized matter (sometimes by artist if they or their benefactor is wealthy enough) that is meant to be seen not touched.

As Emma Baker said in The museum in a postmodern era: the Musée d'Orsay case study: "...the building itself conceived as a kind of box divided by movable partitions for the sake of flexibility. The Pompidou Centre originally exemplified this type of museum, but its immense open spaces were converted into conventionally solid and permanent galleries during the 1980s."

Particular artists currently featured there are challenging this shift with interactive and/or multimedia displays of familiar objects in typical settings. An artistic feature which I don't doubt maintains the uniqueness of le Centre Pompidou in the eyes and experience of the average visitor.

And yet, to quote Andrea Fraser's article, Isn't this a wonderful place? (A tour of the Guggenheim Bilbao): "Like the philanthropic act of donation through which so many objects find their way into museum collections and on which so many museums themselves depend, the aesthetic and its institutions are both the product and the manifestation of a distance from economic necessity of economic power that is 'first and foremost a power to keep economic necessity at arm's length.'"

Le musée et exhibitions à le Centre Pompidou

Où? Place Georges Pompidou, 75004 Paris

Quand? Daily except Tuesdays, 11am-9pm

Comment? Metro Rambuteau, Hôtel de Ville, Châtelet-Les Halles, RER Châtelet-Les Ailles, Bus 21, 29, 38, 47, 58, 69, 70, 72, 74, 75, 76, 81, 85, 96

Great Britain at the British Museum

This past weekend, I ventured to London with one of my classes. Although our itinerary was pretty intense the first two days, we were left to explore during the entirety of Saturday. Mary and I decided to peek into London's national identity and find out what a "vast collection of world art and artefacts" looks like with a (free!) visit the British museum.

The immense main hall (through which one arrives after passing through the main entrance) is incredible. With such tall ceilings and a circular shape, it felt as though we were standing in the center of the Universe. And in some ways, I suppose, we were. The full range of exhibits could be accessed by taking a hallway (corridor) or staircase and there were various services to make the experience more enjoyable: an Information desk, the Gallery Café, "the Families Desk", the Museum Shop, the Multimedia desk (a Korean Air sponsorship offered free audio guides).

With free maps in hand, we set out "to experience some of the highlights of the magnificent permanent collection."

Of the most ancient artifacts, I realized many had originated in many former British colonies. It was almost ironic yet not at all that they were still being showcased with such esteem. After all, at one time the British Empire was the largest, wealthiest, and yes, greatest. The physical evidence of such power appeared to be the most popular amongst visitors and the free tours and talks scheduled throughout the day.

To enhance the privileged opportunity, the Museum offers opportunities to touch objects and learn more about them under the supervision of experts. I believe the intention is that which Fiona Candlin hypothesizes in The Dubious Inheritance of Touch: Art History and Museum Access, "touch potentially opens up previously prohibited ways of understanding museum collections and includes visitors who have traditionally been marginalized by an emphasis on visual learning. As such, it could represent a new and positive step towards recognizing different forms of knowledge and in correlation acknowledges the rights of blind people, among others, to access their collective cultural heritage."

Ancient Greek and Roman artifacts and the rotating exhibitions were accessible from the upper floors as well. On our visit, they were displaying Spanish prints and drawings from the Renaissance to the time of Goya, in addition to a look at the significance of water, tea, and wine across Asian cultures. A visual history of Europe was additionally on display.

The biggest crowds I saw, however, could be found on the ground floor. Not in the Americas exhibits, nor of those of China, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, but in room 4: Egyptian sculpture. It is here that The Rosetta Stone is set on display surrounded by thick glass. I'd assume that this amazing "key to deciphering hieroglyphics" tops the list of A History of the World in 100 Objects written by British Museum Director in conjunction with BBC Radio.

The British Museum

Où? Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG, London

Quand? Daily,10am-5:30pm; Friday, 10am-8:30pm

Comment? Tube, Tottenham Court Road, Holborn, Russel Square, Goodge Street; Bus 1, 7, 8, 19, 25, 38, 55, 98, 242, 10, 14, 24, 29 73, 134, 390, 59, 68, X68, 91, 168, 188

Arts d'Islam - Musée du Louvre

As a museum, the Louvre is one of the oldest in the world. From 1190 to 1202 it was constructed as Phillip Auguste's medieval fortress (as such Le Louvre actually means "the fortress.") but it wasn't until August 10th, 1793 that it actually became a public museum following the French Revolution.

It can be said that the royal collections of art and decorative items were meant to display the authority of the monarch. It can also be said that the republican museum (as in of the French Republic) stood for the virtuous state.

That was hundreds of years ago though. Since then, the Louvre has expanded to 160,000 square meters of galleries featuring about 35,000 works. And most recently, its departments have expanded to include the Islamic Arts.

Such an expansion is critical as a means of cultural diplomacy. It's no coincidence the gallery openings coincided with the French president's inauguration. So much of what we know as terrorism today has been rooted in extreme religion and most often that religion has been Islam; thereby making hostile ignorance unfortunately widespread.

"The learner's prior knowledge, experience, interests, and motivations all compromise a personal context, which is embedded within a complex socio-cultural and physical contect. Learning can be described as the interaction and negotiation of these three shifting contexts in time and space (Falk and Dierking, 1992, 2000 - Living in a Learning Society: Museums and Free-choice Learning)."

 

The Louvre appears to understand how critical it is to create opportunities to not only enjoy the art that has been born from countries where Islam has historically been practiced but to learn about the incredible breadth and diversity of Islamic culture through art. Museum education is, of course, predominately recognition a social responsibility.

"In static societies, which make the maintenance of established custom the measure of value, this conception (i.e. 'the catching up of the child with the aptitudes and resources of an adult group') applies to the main. But not in progressive communities. They endeavor to shape the experiences of the young so that instead of reproducing current habits, better habits shall be formed, and thus the future adult society be an improvement on their own." (Dewey 1916; 79 - Democracy and Education. New York: Macmillan, 1944)

 

In this case, by providing explanatory paragraphs at the gallery entrance, detailed labels on each of the pieces of art, and a progressive timeline through which they're organized, each visitor--no matter their personal perspective or viewpoint or even their age--is given concrete information about a history and a heritage s/he are most likely unfamiliar with.

Unfortunately, although the gallery design is stunning, I found it hindered these educational goals by appearing temporary, at least in comparison to most if not all of the galleries of the Louvre's other permanent collections. This is detrimental as it not only forfeits the value of these pieces but the intention of their exhibition.

Still, the Louvre may be able to avoid such results to the visitor experience by focusing on modernizing updates to other exhibits and galleries including but not limited to geometric display cases and multimedia tools.

Many of the three thousand objects within the Islamic Art galleries were literally "brought to light" in September of this year. I sincerely hope their importance continues to shine through the next centuries of the Louvre's existence. Its ~8.8 million visitors would certainly benefit from a more complete global collection, as would future society.

Musée national du Moyen Age

We had a very rainy morning in Paris last Thursday. Usually, this wouldn't be much of a problem; I'd put on my boots and raincoat, grab an umbrella, and duck into the nearest café to study... or, I'd just be in class. As it was, I had class, but the professor proposed a 2-hour scavenger hunt through the Latin Quarter. Had the weather been nice I would've appreciated it. Since the weather was not, I couldn't wait for it to end at Cluny. What an exquisite historical retreat!

Musée national du Moyen Age

Où? Hôtel de Cluny, 6, place Paul Painlevé 75005 Paris

Quand? Monday, Wednesday-Sunday, 9:15am-5:45pm

Comment? Métro Cluny-La Sorbonne, Saint-Michel, Odéon; Bus 21, 27, 38, 63, 85, 86, 87; RER Saint-Michel, La Sorbonne

Musée Carnavalet

This past Sunday, my best friend and I accidentally stumbled upon le Musée Carnavalet. Admittingly, we hadn't meant to pay the museum a visit, but after wandering through the exhibits for a while and then being unable to find our way out (thus wandering through the exhibits a while longer), I'm pretty sure we covered the entirety of Paris' history...

 

 

Stunning, isn't it all? I should get lost more often. Paris is apparently the most perfect place for it.

Musée Carnavalet

Où? 23 rue de Sévigné, 75003 Paris

Quand? Tuesday-Sunday, 10am-6pm

Comment? Metro Saint-Paul, Rambuteau, Chemin Vert; Bus 29, 69, 76, 96