Five museums opened the ball last year : the museums Clémenceau-de Lattre (Vendée) and Magnin (Dijon) but also the museums of Cluny, Port-Royal des Champs and the castles of Malmaison and Bois-Préau, in Paris or in the Paris region, were the first to launch, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, an innovative program of online visits. This project, fully funded by the Museum Service of France, allows to make available to the public free of charge and remotely the catalog and masterpieces of museums throughout the territory.
This year, nine other establishments are added to the list. In addition to a virtual and autonomous tour, they will be able to use this new tool to reach, through online guided tours, priority audiences of museums, prevented or distant from culture. These new establishments include the Musée national de Préhistoire aux Eyzies (Dordogne), the Musée national et domaine du château de Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and the national museums of the island of Aix – Gourgaud Foundation (Charente-Maritime) and the Bonaparte house in Ajaccio. Through this experiment, each of them can respond to a specific problem (geographical isolation, occasional closure, etc.) and make its collections accessible to the greatest number.
Millennia of digitized collections at the National Museum of Prehistory
Felix the mammoth welcomes us at the entrance of the museum and even through the screen, his imposing stature is obvious. The National Museum of Prehistory (MNP), located in Les Eyzies in the heart of the Vézère Valley in the Dordogne, has just celebrated its centenary and is preparing to celebrate the twenty years of its renovation and extension. In mid-March, it will open its doors virtually and show visitors from around the world its 12,500 exhibits on display in the showcase of the 7 million that the museum preserves, making the place the first museum in Europe and the world over the prehistoric period.
The period of the health crisis had already shaken things up and precipitated the first virtual initiatives. “ We had already experimented with small contests, quizzes and games through social networks. Then little by little, we started making videos that answered questions, especially for young audiences ” recalls Marie-Cécile Ruault-Marmande, in charge of cultural development and communication. At the time, the team had set up live thematic guided tours, for example to discover the must-sees of the museum or the reserves. « But there were brakes: the quality of the image or sound was not necessarily very good. This is why the virtual tour will come at the right time to develop other proposals. »
The digitization took place last October, in all the rooms of the museum but also outdoors, thanks to images of the site taken by drone. « We also wanted to have an optimal image quality despite the windows and reflections issues to zoom in on objects that are part of the points of interest ” continues Marie-Cécile Ruault-Marmande. This requirement is particularly necessary: some pieces of the collection are for example very small objects on which are sometimes very fine engravings. Some objects that are difficult to manipulate were photographed from several angles by Maxime Villaeys, the museum’s photographer when they could not be digitized. These beautiful quality images allow the public to rediscover the pieces in other facets.
Thus, the National Museum of Prehistory will open all its rooms to virtual. The tour offers access to all the spaces, including the terraces, the large shelter of the museum and the first two «historical» rooms of the castle. The MNP is also considering visits with a mediator for several audiences such as schools which currently represent 4,000 visitors per year. “ For those who will never come to us, because living far away, and who study Prehistory in class, because it appears in the school program, it would be a great complement Marie-Cécile Ruault-Marmande also wants to target people with disabilities, in nursing homes or hospitals, and in prisons.
A virtual «appetizer» for the national museum and domain of the castle of Pau
This is a new stage in the history of this castle of the XIe century, which has already lived several lives, passing from fortress to Renaissance palace with Marguerite de Navarre, birthplace of Henri IV renovated under Napoleon III and finally national museum since 1920. Set on its rocky spur, surrounded by the city and its 23-hectare estate, the castle of Pau and its national museum today host a rich collection of all its past, composed of furniture, tapestries of the XVIIe and XVIIIe century, collections of the palois Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte become king of Sweden, and its jewel: the cradle turtle shell, supposed to have been that of Henry IV.
All this wealth will be visible to the greatest number through the virtual tour, conceived as « an appetizer before the meal! ", according to Karine Leboucq, Assistant Director of the National Museum and Domaine du Château de Pau. Indeed, visitors will be able, through their screen, to enter places that are not yet open to the public as the attic of the south wing. « By a click, we give the opportunity to open a hatch that allows to enter this space dedicated to Abdelkader [Editor’s note: Arab emir imprisoned in Pau castle in 1848 during the conquest of Algeria by France], other character who marks the history of the castle ” adds Karine Leboucq. This visit is also timely for the museum which will begin next year heavy structural work that will lead to the closure of a large part of the tour.
The health crisis has, once again, set the first steps in the digitization of collections, with the implementation of a smartphone-based visit tool. « This project allowed us to take a first look at what we wanted to present to the public with a preliminary work that fed the virtual tour since a large part of the texts were already written and we knew what were the jewels of the collection ” notes Florence Saragoza, curator of the museum. A team has been formed in the various departments of the establishment to reflect on this virtual tour project that offers very detailed content on certain pieces such as tapestries, the large Bordeaux vase made by the Manufacture de Sèvres or some paintings in which it will be possible to zoom.
This virtual tour is aimed at several audiences, starting with the University of Pau and its students, the social field or people with reduced mobility. The museum would also like to reach a more targeted audience of researchers to encourage them to come and use its resources. “ This visit is not a culmination but the beginning of another form of use of the rooms of the castle and its collections ” concludes Florence Saragoza.
A second wave of experimentation at the national museums of Malmaison
After the national museum of the castles of Malmaison and Bois-Préau last year during the first wave of experimentation, the national museums of Malmaison extend virtual tours to the birthplace of the Bonaparte in Ajaccio, place of birth of a large part of the siblings, and the island of Aixwhere Napoleon spent his last days before surrendering to the English and exiling to St. Helena. “ We are taking a logical and coherent approach to what we have already achieved. The development of experimentation was self-evident and what was an experience for Malmaison and Bois-Préau naturally had to extend to other sites, summarizes Élisabeth Caude, director of the national museums of the castles of Malmaison and Bois-Préau, the island of Aix and the Maison Bonaparte in Ajaccio. It is a fundamental tool of fluidity, discovery and knowledge. » These visits are a way of creating a coherent cultural and scientific proposal between all the museums of this SCN (service with national competence), scattered throughout France.
In 2022, Malmaison and Bois-Préau chose to present only a temporary exhibition online on Prince Eugene of Beauharnais. “ It was an inaugural exhibition in a site closed for nearly thirty years to the public. When we were offered this experiment, we therefore first turned to the virtual tour of this very European exhibition that could be distributed to our foreign friends "says Élisabeth Caude. This time, the SCN chose to show all the collections virtually. It is therefore possible to admire, on the Corsican side, the decor and furnishings at the time of Napoleon Bonaparte as well as historical works on the history of the family and Charentais side, the house with the room in which the Emperor spent the nights before his surrender and the rest of the Gourgaud collection. The exhibits were digitized in June and October with again a selection of points of interest and the drafting of cartels.
This visit is also a way to compensate for the lack of accessibility for people with reduced mobility in certain rooms and to allow visitors prevented from accessing the collections throughout the life of the Bonaparte. « This is one of the objectives: to respond to a wide opening towards a public prevented for whom it is difficult to come to the museum because of their state of health, their geographical distance or because of administrative or financial constraints "lists Élisabeth Caude, who quotes the public of the PJJ (Youth Judicial Protection), schools or rural areas.
See the virtual tour of Musée nationaux de l’île d’Aix – Fondation Gourgaud and that of the maison Bonaparte in Ajaccio
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