After a six year renovation, fabulous Musée de l’Homme, located in Palais de Chaillot, has recently reopened for the great joy of children and parents. To see « Lucy » or whatever is left of her is undeniably a special emotion and to enter a world of warriors from 15 000 years ago and discover what they painted in caves and sculpted on mamouth ivory, is just as moving. My first visit on a Wednesday night (less crowded than during the day) with Gilles Nicolas, one of the artists involved in the many exhibition windows, was very pleasant.
Who are we, where do we come from and where are we going ? these are the questions that research teams from Musée de l’Homme are trying to explore in a very modern, electronic way. Founded in Palais de Chaillot, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower, in 1938 by President Albert Lebrun, the museum has always had the best anthropologists and shown the greatest prehistorical collections.
But now, it is also extremely entertaining. To understand the human lineage, its social and economic background, is the mission this museum has been assigned. Eighteen major scientists with a team of 150, have worked on the new content and 20% of the space is still devoted to research. Skeletons, silex, naturalized antique animals, rival with high technology and three dimensional decors.
There are many screens to touch and buttons to activate in order to smell different types of cuisines; there are tongues, made of resin, to pull if you want to hear 30 exotic languages from all over the world (I went for Kirghiz and Amharique, spoken by 94million Ethiopians including the Queen of Saba!), and there are many visual pleasures like the heads Pavilion or small dark « cabinets de curiosités » full of skulls. I loved the Senegalese bus in which you sit to watch traffic in Dakar, and the lavish Mongolian Yourte where I wouldn’t mind spending a night in the middle of the tundra.
But what struck me the most were six vertical video screens at the entrance of the galleries, six amazing ballets of images created by Patrice Mugnier, a partner of Active Creative Design. They are themselves worth the visit.
I regretted not having brought a few children with me to play even more with screens and skeletons or to admire Pascale-Marthine Tayou, and other contemporary artists suggested by Jean Hubert Martin, who is in charge of special exhibitions at the museum. But next time I go, I will definitely hire some naughty children to play with. (closed Tuesdays, opened till 9 pm on Wednesdays)
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2 Comments on “Musée de l’homme, a fascinating renovation”
I love a good museum! This one looks great.
What an amazing concept. So odd, and yet so important. And I think, very French!