Extra-western collections held in museums in France

Collections from all over the world, all over France

The extent of the extra-western collections held in museums in France is often much greater than what the works on display to the public suggest, but they are also often poorly documented, which leaves room for uncertainty and ignorance.

Develop study programmes

The need to initiate specific study programmes on these collections, already present in the projects of scientific managers of collections, is once again a priority for building shared knowledge. These studies are also a cultural issue.

Awareness campaigns aimed at museum professionals and the public

Another issue is their appreciation towards the public to promote their knowledge. This page is for all those, specialists and especially not specialists, who have a curiosity for these collections in an approach of sharing knowledge around this heritage. This page refers to events, exhibitions, study days, documents, museum sites that propose to highlight these collections to take another look at past or present civilizations.

Develop knowledge sharing networks and convene expertise for partnerships

Inventories, conservation conditions, museology and study have made it possible for many years to take an interest in these collections and thus to help transform the look.
Today, it is necessary to structure this network of skills in order to rethink the model of partnership between Western museums and peoples of origin.

News

Exhibition "Carnets kanak: Voyage en inventaire de Roger Boulay", Paris, Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac, 04 October 2022 - 12 March 2023

Learn more about the museum site

Call for participation on provenance research on collections acquired in a colonial context (October 2022)

As part of the Franco-German Museum Dialogue, launched in May 2022, the theme of the management of collections from colonial contexts will be the subject of a meeting of museal experts from France and Germany on 20 October 2022 in Bremen and a workshop open to a wider audience of professionals from the museum world on 16 December 2022 (online). Under the scientific co-leadership of the Übersee-Museum in Bremen and the Quai Branly Museum - Jacques Chirac, 10 museum experts from France and 10 experts from Germany are invited. There is still time to submit your application (deadline extended).

Read more on call |Learn more about the French-German museum dialogue

Découvrir les collections extra-occidentales dans les musées

Sur Muséofile, le répertoire des musées de France

Muséofile, le répertoire des musées de France diffusé par la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine, permet de filtrer les établissements selon la provenance des collections conservées et leurs thématiques.

Découvrir les musées conservant des collections extra-européennes, sur Muséofile au nombre de 152 au 26/10/2022.

Sur Joconde, le catalogue collectif des collections des musées de France

Joconde, le catalogue collectif des musées de France diffusé par la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine, permet de filtrer les collections selon leur provenance et leurs thématiques. Joconde présente un grand nombre de notices de collections extra-occidentales. (14 388 notices au 26/10/2022).

Les objets concernent les différents continents (Afrique, Amériques, Asie, Océanie). Il est possible de faire des recherches par zone continentale (Afrique du nord, Afrique sub-saharienne, Amérique centrale, Amérique du sud, Asie occidentale, Asie centrale, Asie du sud-est…).

Ces collections peuvent être de nature archéologique ou de nature ethnologique (vie domestique, vie militaire, pratiques religieuses…). En revanche, estampes japonaises et peinture chinoise relèvent des beaux-arts, tout comme la céramique extrême-orientale relève des arts décoratifs.

Les fonds relevant des domaines mémoire de l'esclavage ou migrations humaines élargissent également cette approche.

Trois musées mettent en ligne sur Joconde des fonds extra-occidentaux spécifiques et significatifs : le château-musée de Saumur (fonds hippique), le musée international de la Chaussure à Romans et le musée de la musique à Paris.

À travers les collections en ligne de plusieurs musées

> Angoulême, musée

> Fontainebleau, musée national du château de Fontainebleau : musée chinois

> Hanovre, musées de Basse-Saxe

> Nouvelle-Calédonie : inventaire du patrimoine kanak dispersé

> Paris, musée des arts asiatiques Guimet

> Paris, musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac

> Paris, musée du Louvre : département des arts de l'Islam

Programmes d'étude

Le monde en musées : cartographie des objets africains dans les collections publiques françaises, Institut national d’histoire de l’art

L’INHA a été chargé, en 2019, par le ministère de la Culture, de constituer un inventaire, accompagné d’une cartographie, des collections de l’Afrique subsaharienne conservées dans les musées français. Ce corpus sous forme d’un portail numérique en ligne vise à offrir un libre accès aux résultats de la recherche systématique de provenance des objets et à la documentation. Il permettra ainsi de connaître leur histoire et leur parcours et, le cas échéant, d’appréhender les demandes de restitutions.

En savoir plus sur ce programme

L’Afrique en musée – Introduction à projet de cartographie des collections d’objets africains en France IN Hypothèses, Carnet d’Afriques : actualité de la recherche en histoire de l’Afrique avant le XXe siècle

Les collections d’objets africains dans les musées en France restent très peu connues. Ce billet lance une série de petits textes qui, une fois par semaine, en donneront un aperçu. Ces textes seront rassemblés sous la forme d’une cartographie qui sera mise en ligne au printemps 2021 par l’Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (INHA) en collaboration avec le Musée d’Angoulême (MAAM). Le projet a été élaboré par Claire Bosc-Tiessé dans le cadre du domaine « Histoire de l’art, XIVe– XIXe siècle » dont elle a la charge à l’INHA depuis 2017.

Consultez cette ressource sur Hypotheses.org

Publications

Patrimoines. Revue de l'Institut national du patrimoine n°16 : Patrimoines d'Afrique subsaharienne

This issue of Heritage offers an overview of heritage designs and practices in sub-Saharan Africa, where new actors and institutions as well as numerous initiatives testify to the will of States and communities to preserve a heritage that is sometimes fragile but still alive.  Learn more about this issue.

Seminar «Parcours d'objets. Études de provenance des collections d'art «extra-occidental», Paris, Institut national d'histoire de l'art (INHA)

The aim of this seminar is to report on research carried out or in progress, in France and Europe, on typologies of collections varied both by their nature and by their origins. It is also intended to offer methodological tools and data to curators, researchers and students who have engaged or want to engage in this necessary effort of a refined knowledge of these collections. Discover the program and the video recordings.

Study day «Inventory, documentation, provenance research: what are the challenges for the extra-western collections of museums in France?» , Paris, 07/10/2019

The Directorate-General for Heritage - Service des musées de France and the musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac organized a day of study on October 7, 2019 entitled «Inventory, documentation, research of provenance: what are the challenges for the extra-western collections of museums in France?». Consult the acts of that day.

Brochure “Researches on the origin and history of the collections of the musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac”, September 2019

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview and perspectives on the research conducted at the musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac on the question of the origin of extra-western works held in national collections. It consists of three parts: a short history, a description of the current methods of enrichment of knowledge and a presentation of the new initiative constituted by the site of origins. Consult the pamphlet.

Forum «African heritage: succeeding together our new cultural cooperation», Paris, 04/07/2019

Better thinking and sustainable living of heritage cooperation with Africa: these were the main challenges of the forum on «African heritage: succeeding together our new cultural cooperation», organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, which gathered 200 African, French and European scientists and professionals at the Institut de France on 4 July 2019. Consult the news report. Read the speech by Franck Riester, Minister of Culture.

Directory of French public collections of Oceanian objects, 2007

Published in 2007 on the website Joconde by Roger Boulay, this reference source is always useful for researchers and for discovering the diversity of the collections of museums in France. The directory, which is currently being updated, is now available on the Museums of Culture.gouv.fr website, in the form of a spreadsheet sorted geographically and a list, also geographical, which accounts for the number of objects per museum at that time. Roger Boulay’s presentation text is also taken from the former Mona Lisa site. Seedirectory.