The extra-western collections kept in the museums of France
Many museums in France keep collections belonging to «non-Western» cultures. These collections concern all types of museums: museums of art, ethnography, decorative arts, musical instruments... Natural history museums also preserve and present these collections. There is some difficulty in giving an exact definition of the domain. It comes from the diversity of the geographical origins of the objects. It also results from the very history of these collections.
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Collections from around 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 exhibited to the public suggest, but they are also often poorly documented, leaving room for uncertainty and ignorance.
Develop programs of study
The need to engage specific study programs on these collections, already present in the projects of scientific collections managers becomes again a priority to build shared knowledge. These studies are also a cultural issue.
Awareness-raising activities for museum professionals and audiences
Another issue is their value to the public to promote their knowledge. This page is for all those, specialists and especially non-specialists, who have a curiosity for these collections in a process 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 skills for partnerships
Inventories, conditions of conservation, museology, study have allowed for many years to take an interest in these collections and thus contribute to transform the look.
Today, it is necessary to structure this network of skills in order to rethink the partnership model 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
Find out 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 managing collections from colonial contexts will be the subject of a meeting of museum experts from France and Germany on 20 October 2022 in Bremen and a workshop open to a wider audience of museum professionals on 16 December 2022 (online). Under the scientific co-pilot of the Übersee-Museum in Bremen and the Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, 10 museum experts from France and 10 experts from Germany are invited. There is still time to submit your application (deadline extended).
Learn more on call |Learn more about the Franco-German museum dialogue
Exhibition "Migratory objects, treasures under influences", Marseille, Centre de la Vieille Charité, 08 April 2022 - 16 October 2022 (Exhibition of national interest)
Find out more about the museum site
Exhibition "Abd el-Kader", Marseille, MuCEM, 06 April 2022 - 22 August 2022
Find out more about the museum site
Exhibition "On the road of the chiefdoms of Cameroon. From the visible to the invisible", Paris, musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, 5 April 2022 - 17 July 2022
Find out more about the museum site
Exhibition "L'arc et le sabre – Imaginaire guerrier du Japon", Paris, Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet, 16 March 2022 - 29 August 2022
Find out more about the museum site
Exhibition "Sur la piste des Sioux", Lyon, musée des Confluences, 22 October 2021 - 28 August 2022
Find out more about the museum site
Exhibition "The singular history and the universe of the donors of the museum", Saint-Just Saint-Rambert, musée des Civilisations-Daniel Pouget, June 5, 2021 - September 30, 2022
Find out more about the site of the City of Saint-Just Saint-Rambert
Research grant on non-European collections (BnF – Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac), applications until Monday 21 June 2022 midnight
Find out more about the Bnf site
Exhibition "Wampum: pearls of diplomacy in New France", Paris, musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, 8 February 2022 - 15 May 2022
Find out more about the museum site
Exhibition "Cotton: the conquest of the world", Cholet, museum of art and history, 3 December 2021 - 22 May 2022
Find out more about the city site
Exhibition "Amazonia[s], forêt-monde", Grenoble, musée Dauphinois, 29 October 2021 - 2 May 2022
Find out more about the site of the Isère museums
"Jusqu'au bout du monde, regards missionnaires", Lyon, musée des Confluences, 18 June 2021 - 8 May 2022
Find out more about the museum site
Exhibition "La part de l'ombre: sculptures du sud-ouest du Congo", Paris, musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, 14 December 2021 - 10 April 2022
Find out more about the museum site
Exhibition «The Curiosity of a Prince»: the destiny of the ethnographic cabinet of the Count of Artois, from the Revolution to the present day, Versailles, Central Library, 18 September - 11 December 2021
Production in scientific partnership with the musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, with the exceptional participation of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Choctaw Cultural Center. Find out more about the site of the City of Versailles
Conference «New writings of history at the museum», Marseille, Mucem, 21 October 2021, 19h
In the presence of Olivier Gabet, director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris). Read more about the mucem site
Exhibition "Australia-Le Havre. The intimacy of a link (1801-2021)", Le Havre, Museum of Natural History, June 5 - November 7, 2021
Find out more about the site of the Natural History Museum of Le Havre
International study days "From decolonization of the arts to the restitution of objects", Bordeaux, 9 and 10 September 2021
These days will be held at the University Bordeaux 2, place de la Victoire and will be accessible remotely (link in the program). They aim to contribute to the dialogue between museums of the South and the North, between researchers and actors of culture and its mediation, in order to reflect together on possible forms of restitution and shared, participatory and dynamic management of culture, especially what makes heritage.
2ème Journée sur les collections extra-occidentales, Marseille - Mucem, reportée
Le Service des musées de France (Direction générale des patrimoines – Ministère de la culture) organise une nouvelle journée d’étude consacrée aux collections extra-occidentales dans les collections des musées de France, au musée national des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (Mucem), à Marseille. Initialement prévue le 4 décembre 2020, cette journée est reportée en raison des conditions sanitaires.
Exposition "Kanak : enquête sur une collection", Bourges, Musée du Berry, 1er juillet 2020 – 10 mai 2021
En savoir plus sur le site des musées de la région Centre Val de Loire
Exposition "Fibres africaines", Jouy-en-Josas, Musée de la Toile de Jouy, 1er octobre 2020 - 5 septembre 2021
En savoir plus sur le site du musée de la Toile de Jouy
Exposition "Une Afrique en couleurs", Lyon, Musée des Confluences, 16 octobre 2020 - 22 août 2021
En savoir plus sur le site du musée des Confluences
Exposition "Ex Africa : présences africaines dans l'art d'aujourd'hui", Paris, Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac, 9 février 2021 - 11 juillet 2021
En savoir plus sur le site du musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac
Exposition "George Nuku : voyage autour du monde, l'aventure maori de Dumont d'Urville", Rochefort, Musée Hèbre, 19 mai 2021 - 28 août 2021
En savoir plus sur Alienor, le site des musées de Nouvelle-Aquitaine
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 16/10/2023.
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. (17 055 notices au 16/10/2023).
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 de la musique
> 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 conceptions 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 always alive. Read more about this issue.
Seminar «Path of objects. Studies of provenance of «extra-western» art collections, Paris, Institut national d'histoire de l'art (INHA)
The aim of this seminar is to report on successful or ongoing research, in France and Europe, on typologies of collections varied both in nature and in their origins. It also aims 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 video recordings.
Study day «Inventory, documentation, provenance research: what are the stakes for the extra-western collections of French museums?» , Paris, 07/10/2019
The Directorate General of Heritage - Service des musées de France and the musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac organized on October 7, 2019 a study day entitled «Inventory, documentation, provenance research: what are the challenges for the extra-western collections of French museums?». Check out the acts of this day.
Brochure “Research on the history of the collections of the musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac”, September 2022
The purpose of this document is to take stock of the research conducted on the history of the collections housed at the musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac and to present its perspectives. It consists of three parts: "Research on the history of collections since the creation of the museum", "A new framework: research of origins and restitutions" and "The research policy of the museum on the history of collections". Check out the brochure.
Forum «African heritage: success together our new cultural cooperation», Paris, 04/07/2019
Better thinking and sustainable living of heritage cooperation with Africa: these were the main issues of the forum on «African heritage: success together our new cultural cooperation», organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, which brought together 200 African, French and European scientists and professionals on 4 July 2019 at the Institut de France. Check out 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 Joconde website 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 site Musées de culture.gouv.fr, in the form of a spreadsheet sorted geographically and a list, also geographical, accounting for the number of objects by museum at that time. Roger Boulay’s presentation text is also taken from the former Mona Lisa website. Consult thedirectory.
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