The Musée du Quai Branly — Jacques Chirac: One of the newest and most original museum in Paris
The Musée du Quai Branly is dedicated to the art and culture of non-Western civilization. It opened in 2006 under Jacques Chirac presidency. Its collection, its architecture and its garden makes it one of the most valuable museum in Paris.
The Musée du Quai Branly is one of the most famous museum of France. It opened in 2006 so it’s the newest of the major museums in Paris. It is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris close to the Eiffel Tower and the Pont de l’Alma. The museum is administered by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and also serves as a center for research. It receives approximately 1.3 millions of visitors every year.
The goal of this museum is to give non-Western civilizations and arts their place in French national museums. The museum collection has 450 000 objects from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. Only 3 500 items are displayed at any given time in both permanent and temporary exhibitions. A number of French intellectuals and scientists wanted an important museum dedicated to the arts and cultures of non-European societies. Jacques Kerchache in 1990 wrote a proposal and present it to Jacques Chirac who was the Mayor of Paris at this time. In 1995, Chirac was elected president of France and he announced in the following year the creation of the Quai Branly museum. In June 2016 “Jacques Chirac” was appended to the museum’s name.
This museum combines the collections of two different museums: the National Museum of the Arts of Africa and Oceania and the Museum of Man. The first museum was run by art historians and conservators while the second was run by ethnologists and anthropologists who were most interested in the use of the objects. It explains why the museum was put under two ministries. The art part was supervised by the Ministry of Culture and Communication and the ethnological part by the Ministry of Education.
The building was designed by a famous French architect Jean Nouvel, well known for his work in the Institute of the Arab World and the Fondation Cartier, 2 famous buildings in Paris. This museum is instantly recognizable because of its plant wall designed by the botanist Patrick Blanc. It measures 850 square meters and it’s composed by approximately 24 000 plants of 150 species from all around the world. The plants cling to the wall thanks to a mechanism directly inspired by the nature. A thin layer of PVC and felt recovers the wall of the museum and forms like a carpet of moss. The plants fix their roots and get the nutriments they need from the water which circulate in it. The vegetal wall provides a thermic and phonic isolation.
The museum is divided in 4 areas, one for each continent: Asia, Oceania, America and Africa. The areas are all on the same floor and they’re not separated by wall. The architect wanted visitors to be able to pass from on to another as smoothly as possible.
Visitors can also explore the museum garden designed by landscapist Gilles Clément. He wanted the garden to be a land of freedom for the plants to contrast with the classic French garden well organized. Nature can grow without constraint, no pesticides or herbicides are used and weeds are welcomed. The garden was conceived as an ecological project. Only plants acclimated to the Parisian weather and requesting a low amount of care can be found in the garden.
One day is not enough to fully enjoy what the museum has to offer. Don’t hesitate next time you’re in Paris.