Sunday, January 8, 2012

Musee Quai Branly - Paris

Just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower is the treasurehouse of the Quai Branly Museum in Paris, located in a quiet garden and a stunning building designed by architect Jean Nouvel well known for the Arab World Institute also in Paris. The office building of the museum is also worth a second look as it is a living green wall planted by Gilles Clement and Patrick Blanc....

The museum is a new Ethnographic collection housing and showcasing artworks from all parts of Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Americas, and it certainly is a rich eclectic mix of masks, sculpture, textiles, ceramics, artefacts, paintings......
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The Museum also has a very interesting programme of temporary exhibitions and currently showing are a Maori Exhibition as well as the " Samourai - armure du guerrier" and a very challenging but fascinating exhibition which documents the rise and fall of freak shows and human zoos entitled "L'Invention du Sauvage" which runs until June 2012....


Human zoos, incidentally, astonishingly closed as late as 1958......hence the Museum is well worth a visit for learning a great deal about the world in which we live, including its more than chequered past.....

10 comments:

French Girl in Seattle said...

Great post Catherine. I have enjoyed both my visits to le Musee Branly. I am almost ashamed to confess my favorite part is not the collections inside, but the "Mur Megetal" on the building facade. I still don't understand how they get those plants to grow alongside the wall yearound, in spite of the harsh Paris winter and all that pollution! Incidentally, the gastronomic restaurant inside the museum (les Ombres) is well worth a visit: The food is excellent, service impeccable, and the best tables overlook the Eiffel Tower. Great light show at night! Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)

Sylvia K said...

Marvelous post and terrific captures, Catherine! Interesting history! Would love to pay a visit there myself!! Hope you have a great week ahead!

Sylvia

Owen said...

Hey, how long are you going to be in Paris ?!? Or did you just stop in for a weekend trip ??? We were just at Quai Branly a couple of times this fall, the Photo Quai photo expo was very good, and the museum is always a pleasure. They had a New Zealand special exhibit on the Maori culture running recently. The cafeteria is also very good, even if one doesn't have time or budget for the gastronomic restaurant upstairs... Anyway, hope you had a lovely time...

PeterParis said...

Yes, I was waiting for these pictures. I understood from your comments on my blog (also about this museum) that we "almost met"! I hope that next time you are in Paris, we can visit something really together! :-)

Catherine said...

Hi Owen and Peter - this visit was at the beginning of December when I was in Paris with students for a Model United Nations Conference and didn't have a moment to myself outside the supervisory role - will let you know when I can get back to Paris on my own terms as it would be fun to meet and visit somewhere together...

Catherine said...

Hi Veronique - glad you enjoyed the museum too - and yes we also ate in the cafeteria which I thought was great - will have to try the restaurant next time though as that sounds a real treat...

Catherine said...

Hi Sylvia - glad you enjoyed the post - I know you love travelling around the world on your computer - your lovely comments are always much appreciated...

Lynne with an e said...

Looks like a treasure trove of design inspiration. I think I'd skip the exhibit featuring human zoos, though!

Fly Girl said...

Oooh! This is my kind of museum. Really informative post, I love the shot of the masks.

Malyss said...

This is one of the museums in Paris that I did not visit yet. But I'm impatient to visit it. The inside seems very interesting , and the outside with the vegetal wall, sounds so intriguing..