Aborigines, Art, France: history in review (Part 4 of 4)
Back
to Part 3 The
Genesis of the Musee du Quai
BranlySarah Amato does an
excellent job of delineating the role of public museums in representing "the
ideologies of a colonial state, and how these ideologies may be manifested in
the distinction between 'art' and 'ethnographic' collections (Amato, p. 49) She
also does a fine job of detailing the political and aesthetic battles that were
waged in Paris over the proper placement and presentation of materials from
non-Western culture--the tensions between the "natural history" viewpoint of the
Musee de l'Homme, the "history of civilization" as presented by the MNAAO, and
the conservative traditions of the Louvre, which only reluctantly acceded to
Chirac's demand for the placement of cultural objects from those under-visited
ethnographic collections in its Salle
des Sessions within Paris's defining museum of
civilized culture. I have alluded in passing to these issues throughout these
posts, and in earlier discussion of the MQB. Here, I simply want to present a
brief timeline of the MQB's history, in keeping with my intent to review the
history of Aboriginal art as received in
Paris.The formal genesis of the MQB
came about as the result of a 1996 report from a commission "set up to study the
most appropriate means for giving primitive art its rightful place in French
museums" (Amato, p. 56). The report recommended the creation of a new
institution with a tripartite mission: conservation, research, and education.
It is interesting to note that at this point, the art is still described as
"primitive," and the political element of recognizing the cultural equivalence
in value of these collections that Chirac would come to foreground, is here
absent. However, in discussing the "verbal acrobatics concerning the naming of
the museum," Amato notes that "removing the term
primitif
from common vocabulary seems to be one of the principal educative objectives of
the project" (Amato, p. 58).In 1999, a
competition was held to select the architectural design of the new museum.
According to Amato, Jean Nouvel's winning entry "was heralded for its
integration of urban concerns and the requirements of the collections in a
design that 'will evoke other worlds'" (Amato, p. 60). The notion of
incorporating Aboriginal art into the design of the building was already in
Nouvel's mind at that time, according to Stephane Martin, Director of the Musee
du Quai Branly (Australian Indigenous
Art Commission, p. 7.) He envisioned
deploying the vibrant, stimulating energy of Aboriginal painting on the ceilings
of the curatorial building, visible from the street through long windows, thus
effecting an architectural marriage of the Parisian tradition of ceiling
decoration with the imagery of one of the cultures celebrated in the museum's
collections. It was not until 2003,
however, that the Australian Indigenous Art Commission was created to attend to
the particulars. The final selection of the eight artists included in the
Commission was announced by Brenda Croft and Hetti Perkins in October of 2004
(Neill, p. 14). In an interesting footnote to the art/ethnography "dilemma,"
Jeremy Eccles, reporting in The
Financial Times, states that John Mawurndjul
found it difficult to decide which of his styles to choose--the traditional
paintings of the Rainbow Serpent or the more abstract
mardayin
designs--for inclusion in the
project.Before returning to a final
consideration of the Aboriginal Indigenous Art Commission and its place in the
history of Aboriginal art on display in Paris, however, I want to turn to two
other exhibitions that occurred in Europe between the announcement of Nouvel's
design in 1999 and its eventual "unveiling" at the opening ceremonies of the MQB
in 2006.The Continuing
Presence of Karel KupkaThe next
major exhibition of Aboriginal art in France (at least that I am aware of) was
Au Centre de la Terre d'Arnhem: entre
mythes et realites art aborigene d'Australie
(In the Heart of Arnhem Land: myth and
the making of contemporary Aboriginal art)
held in the latter half of 2001 at the Musee de l'Hotel-Dieu in Mantes-la-Jolie,
which lies just northwest of Paris. The exhibition was a joint endeavor by the
Musee and Maningrida Arts and Culture; the work on display came from the Kupka
collection at the MNAAO, private collectors in France and Switzerland, the Djomi
Museum in Maningrida, and the inventories of Maningrida Arts and Culture itself.
The work of fifty-six artists was presented, including bark paintings, carved
and woven sculptures, and prints.In
the Preface to the catalog for the exhibition co-curators Anne Claire Ducreux
(from Mantes-la-Jolie) and Fiona Salmon (from Maningrida) note that "the
exhibition and the accompanying catalog seek to illuminate the opposing notions
of continuity and change, key concepts in the appreciation of Maningrida art."
(Au
Centre, p. 8). The title of the first essay
in the catalog indicates this concept of progress as well: "At the Forefront:
art from Maningrida and beyond." In
his essay on Kupka, Philippe Peltier (who succeeded Boulay as curator of the
Oceanic collections at the MNAAO and who now occupies that position at the MQB)
also stresses the concept of change brought on by contact with Europeans. He
notes that one of Kupka's achievements and a central focus of the Sorbonne
thesis was the identification of individual artists and their styles. Such an
approach is essential, in Western eyes, to the identification of cultural
objects as
art.
In the context of Au
Centre's emphasis on change as well as
continuity, this is a critical difference. (It is ironic, however, that it
undermines Kupka's fervent wish to see the preservation of traditional
painting's primitive or
brut
character.)The notion of change
introduced by contact with Westerners is alluded to as well in Apolline Kohen's
interview with John Mawurndjul. To be balanced in the presentation here,
Mawurndjul attributes the greatest share of change in contemporary Maningrida
art to his own creativity and influence; but then, doesn't such a boast by an
indigenous artist fly in the face of received wisdom about the importance of
following up the Dreaming in a precise manner? Again, to be fair, Mawurndjul's
remarks focused far more on continuity than on change, and he is adamant in his
insistence on adhering to traditional principles and practices in regard to the
sacred dimension of his and others'
work.As the opening of the Musee du
Quai Branly approached in the years following
Au Centre de la Terre
d'Arnhem, Mawurndjul was often center stage in
media coverage of the Australian Indigenous Art Commission. As the work
progressed from planning to execution in 2005, Mawurndjul was preparing for the
opening of his massive retrospective,
<<rarrk>>
in Basel, Switzerland, and in
September, he traveled to Paris on his way to Basel to paint the large wooden
column that now dominates the street-side corner of the Musee's bookshop. In an
article
by Emma-Kate Symons published in The
Australian on September 9, 2005, Apolline
Kohen was quoted: "His level of involvement is quite different from [that of]
the other artists. ... He said, 'I really want to see the building before I make
any decision about it.' [He is] one artist who was basically doing something
that was not just a reproduction...." (Another article,
by James Button, featuring a full-color photograph of Mawurndjul with the Eiffel
Tower in the background appeared the following day in the Sydney
Morning
Herald.) Inside the Musee, next to the
display of Kupka's barks is hung a large painting of a horned incarnation of the
Rainbow Serpent by Mawurndjul; the portion of interactive video displays in the
Musee that deal with Australia include a filmed interview with Mawurndjul as
well. Naturally,
<<rarrk>>
included, as part of the historical context for Mawurndjul's work, a selection
from Kupka's collection in Basel. As referred to above, the catalog devoted an
essay to Kupka and his career as well. And I suspect that the ultimate
placement of Mawurndjul's work in the prominent ground floor location of the
bookstore--the only interior space of the Commission that is open and accessible
to the public, was influenced by the Parisian connection to Kupka. (It had
originally been intended for display on the second floor ceiling, as shown in
the plans that were on display during the opening week exhibition at the Embassy
of Australia in Paris). Over forty years after Kupka presented the results of
his collecting enterprises to the MNAAO, his influence in Paris remains
undiminished and perhaps even
enhanced.The Musee du Quai
Branly, Paris, 2006The issues of
art and ethnography continue to be contentious in the new Museum, at least from
the Australian perspective. I didn't have a great deal of time to explore all
of the Museum's exhibits, but in what I saw, I found no other contemporary
works, artifacts, or art. Thus while it is thrilling to see contemporary
acrylic painting included in the Museum's collection of
arts
premiers, the entirely ethnographic context
tends to draw the work out of the realm of art and back into that of cultural
curiosity.On the other hand, it is
hard to see the works of the AIAC as anything other than art. The question
remains, will anyone associate those works with the Australian tradition inside
the Museum's walls? Indeed, will anyone realize that the stunning designs on
display in the architecture of the curatorial building represent a dynamic
contemporary artistic movement? And an indigenous Australian one at
that?Perhaps in this respect, it truly
will be important that the Mitchell Foundation's support for indigenous
curatorships in Paris be used to build on what was begun by Kupka, enhanced by
Boulay, and magnified by the AIAC. There is a long history here, as I hope I
have shown; now it's time to start working on the future. Contemporary
Aborginal art is doubtless fine art; it is also a magnificent contemporary
expression of a culture that most people have yet to be seriously introduced to.
A little ethnography never hurt anyone. But perhaps the inquisitive, scientific
gaze can shift its focus away from Karel Kupka's barks a bit in the next few
years.For the French, happily or
unhappily, the tensions among the Musee de l'Homme, the MNAAO, and the Louvre
have been resolved. The collections of the first two have a new home, new
visibility, and better conservatorial oversight. Whether the new Museum can
live up to Chirac's dream of promoting intercultural respect and harmony remains
to be seen. I'd like to close with
two views of the Australian Indigenous Art Commission, 2006, drawn from the
commemorative volume published on the occasion of the Museum's
opening:
The Musee du quai Branly represents a major advance in the presentation of Australian culture abroad. ... The Australian Indigenous Art Commission at the Musee du quai Branly presents the world with an exciting expression of the culture of Australia's first peoples. Strikingly beautiful and evocative, and sweeping in their scope and significance, the works will serve as a permanent reminder of the vitality of the culture and of its evolving, yet enduring, nature. Embedded in the very structure of the new museum, the Commission will transmit a powerful message about Australia to the millions of visitors who view it each year, and about the way in which Indigenous art has itself become embedded in our national identity and consciousness.
Penelope Wensley AO
Ambassador of Australia to France
These contemporary artists are the heirs of the Aboriginal painters from the 1970s. By transposing their ancient culture into a contemporary artistic vocabulary, thereby creating one of the most important art movements of recent times, there artists have both preserved their traditions and rendered them accessible to today's audiences. They have also drawn the world's attention to the contours of their cultural identity. The Australian Indigenous Art Commission at the Musee du quai Branly is the most important permanent installation of contemporary Australian Indigenous art outside Australia. Located in the heart of Paris, the museum is testimony to the enormous vitality of Australian Indigenous art, and is destined to become one of the most emblematic expression of Australian Indigenous culture abroad.
Stephane Martin
Director, Musee du quai Branly
Both statements are appropriately
laudatory, but interestingly, the first speaks more of the statement that the
AIAC will make about Australia while the second stresses the impact of the
indigenous tradition. This is not so far removed from the Australian and French
perspectives, respectively, that became caught up in the MNAAO exhibition
La Peinture des Aborgienes d'Australie
in 1993. One represents a celebration
Australian identity on the international stage. The other focuses our gaze on
the preservation and presentation of indigenous culture in the cultural capital
of the Western world. Both perspectives are valid, and perhaps even
appropriate, and they remind us that in today's world, aesthetic and cultural
objects carry an inescapable political
connotation.In the end, I think I
prefer the simpler and undeniably more romantic perspective expressed at the
launch of the AIAC in Sydney in 2004:
This is my gift to you, to the French people, and to the people of the world, this is my heart.
Gulumbu Yunupingu
ReferencesAmato,
Sarah. ”Quai Branly museum: representing France after empire.”
Race &
Class, v.47, no 4, 2006, pp.
46-65.Au Centre de la Terre
d'Arnhem: entre mythes et realites art aborigene d'Australie.
Mantes-la-Jolie: Musee de l'Hotel-Dieu,
2001.Australian Indigenous
Art Commision: Musee du Quai Branly. Sydney:
Art & Australia, 2006.Button,
James. "Artists' stories will live on forever in Paris
museum." Sydney Morning
Herald, September 10,
2005.Crossman, Sylvie, and Jean-Pierre
Barrou, eds. L'ete australien a Montpellier: 100 chef-d'oeuvres de la
peinture australienne. Montpellier:
Musee Fabre Galerie Saint Ravy,
1990.Crow, Thomas. "A Forest of
Symbols in Wartime New York," in The Intelligence of
Art. Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press,
1999.D'un autre continent:
l'Australie la reve et le reel. Paris:
ARC/Musee d'art moderne de la ville de Paris,
1983.Dussart, Francoise.
La Peinture des aborigenes
d'Australie. Paris: Editions
Parentheses, 1993.Eccles, Jeremy.
"Aboriginal originals woo French."
Financial
Times, December 20, 2004, p.
15.Kauffman, Christian, and John
Mawurndjul. <<rarrk>> John Mawurndjul: journey through
time in northern Australia . Basel:
Schwabe, 2005.Kupka, Karel.
Dawn of Art: painting and sculpture of Australian
Aborigines. New York: Viking Press,
1965.---.
Peintres aborigenes
d'Australie. Paris: Musee de l'Homme, 1972
(Publications de la Societe des Oceanistes, no.
24).Martin, Jean-Hubert.
Magiciens de la
terre. Paris: Editions du Centre
Pompidou, 1989.McMillan, Richard.
"Karel Kupka in Australia: artist, collector, writer, anthropologist," in
Kauffman, Christian, and John Mawurndjul,
<<rarrk>> John Mawurndjul: journey through
time in northern Australia. Basel:
Schwabe, 2005.Myers, Fred.
Painting Culture: the making of an Aboriginal high
art. Durham, NC: Duke University
Press, 2002.---. "Uncertain Regard:
an exhibition of Australian Aboriginal art in France."
Ethnos,
v. 63, no 1, 1998, pp. 7-47.Neill,
Rosemary. "Culture reigns on the Seine."
The
Australian, October 12, 2004, p.
14.Symons, Emma-Kate. "View on the Seine is Aboriginal."
The
Australian, September 9,
2005.
Posted: Mon - August 14, 2006 at 11:41 AM
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A collection of personal reflections and readings on the art of the indigenous people of Australia, their culture, anthropological studies, the art market, and whatever else strays across the cultural horizon.
If you don't wish to leave comments on the blog itself please fee free to contact me directly. Will Owen
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Published On: Jul 22, 2007 09:19 AM
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