
Paris Primitive
Jacques Chirac's Museum on the Quai Branly
Sally Price(Author)
University of Chicago Press
Published on 1. October 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-226-68070-5 (ISBN)
Description
In 1990, Jacques Chirac, the future president of France and a passionate fan of non-European art, met Jacques Kerchache, a maverick art collector with the lifelong ambition of displaying African sculpture in the holy temple of French culture, the Louvre. Together, they began laying plans, and ten years later African fetishes were on view under the same roof as the Mona Lisa. Then, in 2006, amid a maelstrom of controversy and hype, Chirac presided over the opening of a new museum dedicated to primitive art in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower: the Musee du Quai Branly (MQB). "Paris Primitive" recounts the massive reconfiguration of Paris' museum world that resulted from Chirac's dream, set against a backdrop of personal and national politics, intellectual life, and the role of culture in French society. Along with exposing the machinations that led to the MQB's creation, Sally Price addresses the thorny questions it raises about the legacy of colonialism, the balance between aesthetic judgments and ethnographic context, and the role of institutions of art and culture in an increasingly diverse France.
Anyone with a stake in the myriad political, cultural, and anthropological issues raised by the MQB will find Price's account fascinating.
Anyone with a stake in the myriad political, cultural, and anthropological issues raised by the MQB will find Price's account fascinating.
Reviews / Votes
"Sally Price has a gift for capturing the tone and spirit with which people choose to represent themselves. This is a well-told story that represents a major contribution to the field and offers an accessible introduction to some key issues in museum politics." - Christopher B. Steiner, author of African Art in Transit"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 23 mm
Width: 16 mm
Thickness: 1 mm
Weight
425 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-68070-5 (9780226680705)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Sally Price is the Duane A. and Virginia S. Dittman Professor of American Studies and Anthropology at the College of William and Mary. She is the author or coauthor of more than fifteen books, including Primitive Art in Civilized Places, also published by the University of Chicago Press.