A quoi sert un musée de l’Homme ? Vies et destins d’une utopie
The Quai Branly Museum is devoted to “the non-Western arts and cultures .” The
very definition of the museum is laid down in contrast to a point of reference
that is characterized as Western, and contemporary. This museum is thus a
classic museum of the Other – at the same time similar to and different from
previous museums of the Other, in particular the Musée de l’Homme. Because it
emphasizes the aesthetic dimension above others, the Musée du Quai Branly
epitomizes the end of the anthropologists’ monopoly on interpretation
regarding objects and artifacts that belong to the Other. It also illustrates
some paradoxical ways France deals with her colonial past.
ER - End of Reference
Le Musée de l’Homme, histoire d’un musée laboratoire
Artlys/Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle
Paris
2015
Benoît
De L’Estoile