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A new life for Musée de l’Homme

I never knew Musée de l’Homme in its past incarnation. For as long as I can remember – well, six years apparently – it has been closed for renovation. Unbeknownst to me, I have actually seen a good portion of its (former) collection of Asian, African, American and Oceanian ethnography appropriated to fill the legacy project of a certain Monsieur Chirac. How lucky for Musée du Quai Branly and what uncertain time it left Musée de l’Homme, as its European ethnographic collection was also packed away to Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (MuCEM) in Marseille.

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

From emptying corridors came opportunity to change its mission. Musée de l’Homme evolved and is making a come back with fresh look and a restart. Housed within Palais de Chaillot, I need not have to emphasise what great view it has of the Eiffel Tower, do I? Thanks to my friend Céline, F and I got a sneak peak of it today before the museum opens its door to the public on Saturday, 17 October, and for the first three days, entry to the museum will be free.

“Who are we?”, “Where do we come from?” and “Where are we going?” form the three key themes being explored in progression over the first floor, a connecting mezzanine, and the second floor; the third floor of the building is reserved for the researchers conducting their studies from archaeology to anthropology, paeleogenetics to linguistics. During the opening weeks, the Balcony of Sciences will be the stage where researchers meet the public and share their knowledge and work in layman’s terms.

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

As a not-so-secret fan of natural history museums with an interest in human civilisation (it still surprises me some day that I didn’t pursue higher level education in anthropology), this Museum of Mankind is certainly atypical. Gone are regional-specific sections of exhibition and instead, we see overarching concepts as tools to convey societal evolution and self-identity. An example: the wall of languages – how quirky is it to listen to the sound of other tongues by literally yanking tongues to activate the dialect audios?

Taking pride in its scientific angle, backed up with valuable treasures such as Cro-Magnon and Vénus de Lespugue, the museum also offers interactive learning through the use of models and informative multimedia on man and its origin. One of the more interesting exhibits include a few dozen busts, modelled based on real-life persons from around the world, showing us the diversity of physical appearance despite all of us being equally Homo sapiens, thanks to genotypic differences and phenotypic adaptations. One thing that F pointed out which could improve this section: a timeline to show (co-)existence of human, ancestral and modern, and the different ages they lived through.

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

The final section of mankind in modern world and where it is heading is a bit of a hit-or-miss in our opinion. It is fascinating to see how globalisation leads to the use of a French-made bus in Africa and to the presence of technology in a primitive yurt, but I don’t particularly care for different mobile phone covers that are popular in different regions of the world. And don’t get F started on the “Wheel of Insults”. It looks pretty but rather difficult for parents to explain to young children the phrases on the wheel and why would anyone use them against someone else – we witnessed the awkwardness first hand…

The exhibit on impact of human life on environment raises important issues (e.g. over-consumption of water in developed world) and provides many food for thought, but the speculative nature of “fixing and improving” human body bring it from “how can we help someone who is disabled” to “how can we turn ourselves into Iron Man” left me pondering the questions of ethics and morality in creating a superior species. Warning: upcoming, a photo of eyeballs! It may seem morbid but staring at that kit was kind of mesmerising…

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Musée de l'Homme

Nonetheless, I enjoyed my visit to the Musée de l’Homme. Bright and airy rooms with well thought out circuit means navigation is a breeze. Not all exhibits have been fully installed to date, and with so many guests at the museum at the same time, it was not particularly conducive for appreciation of its beauty and contemplation of the take-home messages intended by its curator. I may have also missed a few things here and there, surrounded by admirers and difficult for me to get through.

I’ll just have to go back for a visit another time (or more, since there will be changing temporary exhibitions), when things calm down a little, when exhibits are in place, when the days are sunnier to better appreciate the wonderful view across the River Seine… Massive thank you to Céline for this sneak peek visit!



Category: Culture, Museum, Paris

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2 scribbles & notes

  1. med says:

    Welcome back lil ;) Interesting exhibits…some a bit eerie hehehe

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