Paris Primitive: Jacques Chirac's Museum on the Quai BranlyIn 1990 Jacques Chirac, the future president of France and a passionate fan of non-European art, met Jacques Kerchache, a maverick art collector with the lifelong ambition of displaying African sculpture in the holy temple of French culture, the Louvre. Together they began laying plans, and ten years later African fetishes were on view under the same roof as the Mona Lisa. Then, in 2006, amidst a maelstrom of controversy and hype, Chirac presided over the opening of a new museum dedicated to primitive art in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower: the Musée du Quai Branly. Paris Primitive recounts the massive reconfiguration of Paris’s museum world that resulted from Chirac’s dream, set against a backdrop of personal and national politics, intellectual life, and the role of culture in French society. Along with exposing the machinations that led to the MQB’s creation, Sally Price addresses the thorny questions it raises about the legacy of colonialism, the balance between aesthetic judgments and ethnographic context, and the role of institutions of art and culture in an increasingly diverse France. Anyone with a stake in the myriad political, cultural, and anthropological issues raised by the MQB will find Price’s account fascinating. |
Contents
The Presidents Secret Garden | 5 |
The Passionate Connoisseur | 11 |
Goodbye Columbus | 19 |
Copyright | |
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Aboriginal aesthetic African and Oceanic African Art André anthropology April artifacts artists Arts d'Afrique arts premiers Australian Bethenod building catalog CD-ROM century citing Claude Lévi-Strauss collections collector colonial context created cultural curators d'Afrique et d'Océanie Daubert dealer director display Dubuc Dupaigne edited ethnographic ethnology European example exhibition space Figaro figure France's galleries Gbehanzin Georges Henri Rivière Germain Viatte Glele images interview Jacques Chirac Jacques Kerchache Jean Nouvel journalist Kerchache's L'art l'Homme's laïcité Le Figaro Libération Louvre Louvre's MAAO Maurice Godelier Michel Michel Leiris minister MNATP Monde MQB's Musée de l'Homme Musée des Arts Musée du Quai museological National Museum Naval Museum objects Oceania paintings palace Palais de Chaillot Paris Pavillon des Sessions pieces political Pompidou Porte Dorée president primitive art Quai Branly Museum quoted role Roux sculptures seum statue Stéphane Martin Taino Taïnos Télérama tion traditional Trocadéro vision visitors