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16/10/2015

The new Musee De L'Homme

Musee De L'Homme, Paris

Humans evolve. So has their museum...
What does it mean to be human? Where do we come from? Where are we headed? These three questions are at the heart of the newly renovated Musée de l’Homme, an iconic research establishment due to reopen its doors in 2015 after a six-year renaissance. Originally established in 1938, the all-new facility is a cultural and scientific project like none other. With its spectacular new public displays focused on human development, our similarities, differences, and future, as well as state-of-the-art, scientific research and education facilities, the Musée de l’Homme is ready to address the question of humanity as never before.

As part of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, the Musée de l’Homme is a natural extension of the institution’s other museums and galleries. Its stunning exhibits showcase the museum’s priceless collections of prehistoric and ethnological artefacts and immerse the visitor in the fascinating story of human evolution. From a Cro-Magnon’s skull to the skull of Descartes, from the voluptuous Venus of Lespugue sculpted 20,000 years ago to Pinson’s anatomical wax models, emblems of anatomy in the age of enlightenment, not to mention the surprising gallery of 19th century busts, the exhibits highlight the strange and extraordinary adaptability of human nature. Art, language, bipedalism, laughter... no one criterion can define a human being, but together they make up our remarkable species, and each facet is explored at the new museum.

The Musée de l’Homme is also a modern, working laboratory—a fully-active research and conservation centre with a focus on the natural and human sciences that have forged the identity of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle. The building provides working space for 150 researchers who cover a comprehensive range of scientific disciplines, from biology and anthropology to philosophy and history. Together they explore the nature of humankind, our history and our future. In addition, to foster a fuller, more generous view of humanity and our prospects, the museum’s research teams share their work with the public through cutting-edge exhibits, exciting programmes and research publications. Visitors will learn about the findings and even meet the scientists on the impressive Balcon des Sciences, a space dedicated to the latest scientific research and discoveries. It’s the mission of this unique museum: the vital melding of research and education.

The renovation of the magnificent, historic wing of the Palais de Chaillot that houses the museum reveals architect Gabriel Davioud’s original glass and steel ceiling and monumental spaces, including spectacular views of the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. Crowned with a glorious past, heir to the selfless ideals of the French Popular Front that gave rise to its creation, home to a group of the French Resistance and fertile ground for some of the most fundamental thinking of the 20th century, the time was right for the Musée de l’Homme to reinvent itself for a new era. I’d like to thank my predecessors for seeing through this transformation as well as the State and our patrons for their generous support.
The Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle is aware that the natural sciences now face issues that cannot be tackled without massive input from the human sciences. The reopening of the Musée de l’Homme, just days before the 2015 Paris Climate Conference where world decision- makers will discuss the future of the planet, will be an opportunity for me to underscore this point and to restate the Muséum’s vocation as a guarantor of respect for and upholding of the diversity and universality of humanity and our environment.

BRUNO DAVID President, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle

Opening exhibition
“Chronicles of a renaissance”
17 October 2015 to 13 June 2016

The first temporary exhibition, “Chronicles of a renaissance”, was specially designed for the grand opening of the new Musée de l’Homme, as an introduction to the new museum. It was designed to showcase the new face of the museum and offer visitors a glimpse into what went into its making.

A curtain raiser in three acts The opening exhibition anticipates the questions of newcomers as well as those of the people who remember fondly the former museum. It offers a sneak peek at the making of the new museum, carried out entirely within its walls. The exhibition* unfolds in three parts:
• the transformation of the building and concepts behind the exhibition design of the Galerie de l’Homme;
• the scope of the collections;
• themes introduced by the new museum.
The exhibition was mounted by two researchers from the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle: Serge Bahuchet, ethnobiologist, head of the Man, Nature and Society department, and of the Eco-anthropology and ethnobiology lab, and François Semah, prehistorian and head of education, pedagogy and training. The two masterminded the last temporary exhibition, “La saga de l’Homme” (The human saga), at the Musée de l’Homme before it closed in 2009.

*Exhibition design by architecture firm Projectiles, designed to look like an installation in situ.

• Tales from a construction site: Building a museum for the 21st century. “What happened since the Musée de l’Homme closed in 2009”?
To showcase the metamorphosis of the museum, the first section is set in an architecture workshop: various objects such as models, prototypes, artefacts and projected images are displayed on a table 30 metres long and 1.60m wide. A 30-meter video projection combines stills and moving images to bring the construction site to life and re-enact the transformation of the Musée de l’Homme.

The first part of the table is dedicated to building renovations, with working documents, archives, architectural plans, models, samples, photographs and an interview with the two architects (Olivier Brochet and Emmanuel Nebout).
The second part is dedicated to the conceptual design of the Galerie de l’Homme by way of 11 themes which retrace the entire process in the manner of a making- of: design and manufacturing processes, technologies used to create the display cases.

• The collections: the archives of humanity
“Which collections for the new Musée de l’Homme”? A time-line from 1855 to 2015 unfurls the scientific and institutional heritage of the Musée de l’Homme, providing an opportunity to highlight its origins in the second half of the 19th century, its founders, Paul Rivet and Georges-Henri Rivière, as well as the events and people that have left their mark on this place, notably Germaine Tillion and the Musée de l’Homme’s role during the Resistance. In the same vein, six showcases display objects that illustrate milestones in the history of the museum: a mannequin from the ethnographic museum of 1882, a showcase in the style of Georges-Henri Rivière, and references to temporary exhibitions that have become legendary, notably “Tous parents, tous différents” (All related, all different) with an anatomical écorché.

“Humankind in 100 objects”
A selection of objects was chosen to help visitors get a better grasp of the biological, cultural, anthropological, and pre-historic collections of the Musée de l’Homme, and to understand how museums processes work, from collecting to conservation, as well as training and adding value, notably thanks to exhibitions. The objects are displayed in furniture that recreates the world of collecting. They are presented according to three themes: Humans in a body – Humans in a natural environment – Humans in society.

Another dimension of the collections is immaterial cultural heritage. To conclude this section, visitors are invited to have a seat in the “salon”, around a coffee table, to discover a little-known aspect of the collections: ethno-musicological and ethno-linguistic recordings from field research carried out by scientists from the Musée de l’Homme. Eight themes are presented and each excerpt comes with an informational pamphlet. Visitors are invited to take home a musical score or a written account of the recording of their choice.

• The ABCs: the manifesto of the Musée de l’Homme, “What themes will the new Musée de l’Homme address”?
This sequence is presented in the form of an ABC primer. Each object-letter, from A to Z, is associated with one or several key words in French illustrated by an audio-visual support. Each clip, about two minutes long, is an extract from Andrés Jarach’s documentary ABC de l’HOmme produced by Les Films d’ici and broadcast on France 5 on the occasion of the opening of the museum.

26 letters in the alphabet, 26 ways to illustrate the diversity of the themes broached by the museum: A for Afrique and Alimentation / B for Bipédie / C for Cerveau / D for Démographie / E for Enfant , Écriture and Évolution / F for Femme, Feu and Fini / G for Guerre and Glace / H for Homo / I for Image / J for Je / K for Kaléidoscope, Képi, Koala, Kangourou and Karting / L for Langage / M for Momies and Musique but also Mort and Magie / N for Nature / O for Outil / P for Parenté and Partage / Q for Question / R for Races / S for Singe / T for Temps but also Territoire / U for Urbain / V for Vaches / W for Web / XY for Gender / Z for Zéro.

GUEST ARTIST: PASCALE MARTHINE TAYOU, GRAND ASSEMBLEUR

Contemporary art finds a home in the museum Within the framework of the opening exhibition, the Musée de l’Homme invites the artist Pascale Marthine Tayou, represented by GALLERIA CONTINUA*. His installations, an arresting series of assemblages, are in synch with the themes that run throughout the permanent collections: globalization and the mixing and mingling of cultures. His works are scattered throughout the temporary exhibitions and in spaces designed to welcome the public. For the occasion, the Musée de l’Homme called upon Jean-Hubert Martin, honorary director of the Musée d’art moderne Centre Pompidou and curator of numerous exhibitions, to define how best to bring art into the museum.

*GALLERIA CONTINUA San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Havana

Press contact:
FRÉDÉRIC VERNHES +33 (0)1 40795450 frederic.vernhes@mnhn.fr

FANNY.DECOBERT +33 (0)1 40795444 fanny.decobert@mnhn.fr Musee De L'Homme
17, Place du Trocadero — Paris 16e
open every day except Tuesday, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, late nights Wednesday until 9:00 pm.
Closed Tuesdays, 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.
Galleries begin closing 30 minutes before closing time
General admission to the Musée de l’Homme includes the Galerie de l’Homme, temporary exhibitions and the Balcon des sciences:
Full price: € 10
Reduced price: € 8

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