From the Trocadero to Quai Branly and Ethnocentricity to Universalism: the Exhibition of African Art Objects by French Museums

Introduction

The Musée du Quai Branly (MQB), France's new national ethnographic museum was the vision of a man of politics, the country's former President, Jacques Chirac. Drawing on data gathered over several weeks of fieldwork in the period July 2006-February 2007, as part of my ongoing doctoral research at the MQB, I explore the political and ideological dimensions of the museum's rhetoric vis-à-vis the art and culture of the 'non-West'. At first, I assess the processes that led to the foundation of the MQB, by exploring the 'museumification' of ethnographic material culture based on the poetics and politics of the MQB's ancestors, the Musée de l'Homme and the Musée des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie (Viatte pp. 24). I then move on to question how the political will to re-imagine the relationship of France with its former colonies is pursued in the MQB's exhibitions, programmes and events. What emerges from my fieldwork is on the one hand that the MQB's narratives are strongly dominated by the curatorial voice and are, thus, rooted in Eurocentric conceptualisations of the 'exotic other' viewed through the prism of 'aesthetic universalism'. Parallel to that, however, my research so far reveals that the museum through its different activities critically engages with the political and ideological calls for an inclusive postcolonial museology.

Discussion

This paper is concerned with the concept of 'arts premiers' and the foundation of France's new and controversial museum, the Musée du Quai Branly (MQB). 'Arts premiers' is a neologism that has replaced the politically incorrect 'primitive art' (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 2006: 166) and has been employed over the last decade with both aesthetic and political connotations alluding for some even to the indigenous peoples movement (De l'Etoile 2007). The MQB opened its door to the public after much debate and anticipation in June 2006 and according to the former French President Jacques Chirac 'stemmed from the political will to see justice rendered to non-European cultures' (Somé pp. 20). It will be discussed throughout this paper, the appropriation of 'arts premiers' by Jacques Chirac and his entourage has been instrumental in the conceptualisation and making of the MQB. In this sense, the MQB was the brainchild of a man of politics, rather than an institution brought about by contemporary academic research in the field of Anthropology/Ethnology. The examination of the political connotations of 'arts premiers' and the way this is manifested in the MQB are among the main foci of this paper. Built in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower and along the Seine and designed by Jean Nouvel, one of France's most prominent architects, the MQB is a lot more than a traditional museum. In terms of its overall conceptualisation, it is reminiscent of the Centre Pompidou that houses the Musée National d'Art Moderne. It is versatile and multifunctional offering not only permanent exhibitions, but also a wide range of live performances in the purpose-built theatre, events, programme, temporary exhibitions, ...