Musée de l'Homme

Coordinates: 48°51′46″N 2°17′19″E / 48.8627°N 2.2886°E / 48.8627; 2.2886
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Musée de l'Homme
Musée de l'Homme
Trocadéro
Websitehttp://www.museedelhomme.fr/
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle network

The Musée de l'Homme (

Quai Branly museum.[1]

History

Earlier Collections

The Musée de l'Homme has inherited items from historical collections created as early as the 16th century, from

human being: in terms of evolution (prehistory), of unity and diversity (anthropology), and of cultural and social expression (ethnology
).

The majority of the "

, were also displayed there.

As the Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro (Trocadéro Museum of Ethnography) (1882-1928)

The Musée de l'Homme is the direct descendant of the Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro, which was founded in the Trocadéro Palace in 1828.

Transformation into the Musée de l'Homme (1928-36)

In 1928, Paul Rivet became the new director of the Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro. He oversaw a major modernization and reorganization project, and had the museum linked to the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle.[3]

In 1935 the Trocadéro Palace was demolished and replaced by the Palais de Chaillot, built for the 1937 World's Fair. The museum reopened in the Palais as the Musée de l'Homme.

Disruption and Resistance (1937-1945)

Several members of the Musée de l'Homme, including its founder Paul Rivet, formed a resistance group during the German occupation of Paris in World War II. When Nazi tanks rolled into the city on 14 June 1940, Rivet had a French translation of Rudyard's Kipling poem If tacked to the museum's door in a gesture of defiance.[4]

Refurbishment (1996-2015)

In 1996 French President Jacques Chirac announced plans to create a new museum that would combine key collections from the Musée de l'Homme and

Musée du quai Branly
, which opened its doors in 2006.

In 2008 the French government committed to the refurbishment of the Musée de l’Homme.[6] The museum was closed for renovations in 2009, and reopened in October 2015.The total amount of money appropriated for the renovation process was 52 million Euros.[7]

Mission

Venus of Lespugue (replica), from the Musée de l'Homme

The museum's original purpose was to gather in one place all that can define humanity: its evolution, its unity and its variety, and its cultural and social expression.

The removal of the Musée de l'Homme's ethnographic collections to the new Musée du quai Branly and MUCEM broke with its original mission. This change aroused many debates concerning the curatorial choices of the new structure. The permanent exhibition of the Musée de l'Homme counted more than 15,000 artifacts, reflecting artistic, technical and cultural treasures from five continents. Quai Branly, however, holds only 3500 artifacts, presented without cultural contextualization, chosen for their aesthetic qualities and their "exotic" origins (Africa, Oceania, Americas) and not on educational value. European ethnographical collections are going to be exhibited at MUCEM, and critics believe it is creating an unjustified discontinuity between human cultures.

This situation led the Musée de l'Homme to review its mission. In 2015 it reaffirmed Paul Rivet's original vision for a laboratory museum.[8] Combining biological, social and cultural approaches, the museum today focuses on the evolution of humans and human societies in keeping with Rivet's view that "Humanity is one and indivisible, not only in space, but also in time."[8]

Notable directors and staff scientists

Notable holdings

Former holdings

See also

References

  1. ^ See Quai Branly Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Gilles Aubagnac, "En 1878, les "sauvages" entrent au musée de l'Armée" in Zoos humains. De la Vénus hottentote aux reality shows, Nicolas Bancel, Pascal Blanchard, Gilles Boëtsch, Eric Deroo, Sandrine Lemaire, edition La Découverte (2002), p.349-354 (in French)
  3. OCLC 454423778
    .
  4. ^ Spinney, Laura (June 2020). "The Museum Director Who Defied the Nazis". Smithsonian Magazine.
  5. .
  6. ^ "From the Musée d'Ethnographie to the Musée de l'Homme". Musée de l’Homme.
  7. ^ "Le musée de l'Homme fait sa mue".
  8. ^ a b "About the Musée de l'Homme". Musée de l’Homme. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  9. ^ Picheta, Rob. "France sends skulls of 24 independence fighters back to Algeria". CNN.
  10. ^ "Algeria to welcome home independence fighters' remains".
  11. ^ "France 'to return Algeria fighters' skulls'". BBC News. July 2, 2020.

External links