My first and great love is Paris
We met way back in 1967 when I was very young.
After the year 2000, my work involved frequent trips there. I have a lot to tell about that city because I saw it change before my eyes. I've been there during dramatic moments – strikes, protests, attacks... Thinking about it, after the start of the new millennium, I don't think I've ever seen a peaceful Paris.
There isn't a museum or private collection that I haven't visited. I've returned to some of them again and again because they are my favorites, and each time I discover something new.
A different museum in Paris
However, today I want to tell you about a relatively new museum, still not well known to the general public. Opened in 2006 on the initiative and under the patronage of Jacques Chirac, it is unlike anything one expects to see in the French capital.
It's no coincidence that the rubric in TEA Ancient, sex is amazing! Because where does it all begin, if not with the female principle – the matriarchy, and later with the male – the patriarchy? From the eternal symbols of life, fertility, and creation, which humanity has recreated since the deepest antiquity.
„Uga Booga“ - The Personal Story Behind the Museum
My daughter told me about the Quai Branly Museum. Yes, it turns out that we don't just teach children; they can teach us too.
From the very first visit, she named him – „Uga Booga“. That's how it's remained to this day.
This photo is our favorite. I apologize for its quality – photography was prohibited, and I took it very discreetly. For us, it has become the emblem of the museum.
Exposure to the primary, not the primitive
Let's be clear from the outset – this is a museum of the primal, not the primitive.
Just look at the expression on that face. So much emotion, so much humanity, and so much life in it.
Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac
The Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac is named after the Quai Branly on the Seine River and is dedicated to the arts and cultures of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas – from the most ancient civilizations to the present day.
The collection is impressive. The museum houses over a million items, and around 3500 exhibits are included in the permanent collection. In addition, visiting exhibitions are regularly organized.
I had the incredible luck to come across a specially prepared exhibition dedicated to South America. It was given a huge space and became one of my strongest experiences.
The Interior as a Space of Consciousness
The museum's interior is modern, bold, and extremely.
The open space naturally alternates with separate exhibition areas, and light filters through screens of silver and bronze mesh, creating a sense of mystery.
So, the four major geographical areas are present simultaneously and converse with each other. The visitor moves freely between them, without a sharp boundary.
River, labyrinth, or snail
According to the project, the route follows the curves of the river – a symbol of connections, exchange, and dialogue between civilizations.
However, it didn't look like a river to me.
It was more like a labyrinth. A labyrinth of spaces, ideas, and parallels. A thread that subtly led me to the essence. To creation. To that primal beginning that we all carry within ourselves.
It also resembled a snail, hidden in its own shell, whose spirals gradually reveal its secrets.
Place between the symbols of Paris
If the interior prov.
The location was not chosen by chance. The Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac is located between the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Trocadéro – a natural continuation of Paris's cultural map and a bridge between the world's great civilizations.
This is how the museum's logic is formed – the primary and civilizations
The logic of the museum of the primal, of early art, and of the connections between the histories of civilizations is immediately formed.
A brief history of the creation of the Musée du quai Branly
The Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac is the heir to over 200 years of enrichment, exploration, and preservation of public collections. It houses nearly 370,000 works from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas, illustrating the cultural diversity of non-European civilizations – from the Neolithic period (approximately 10,000 years ago) to the 21st century.
With the development of trade, seafaring, and colonial expansion, non-European objects began to accumulate in private collections. The culmination of this process was in the 18th century, when the need arose for their systematization, preservation, and public display.
Thus, objects from the natural history, archaeology, history, and ethnography are brought together in one place. After the French Revolution, national museums were established, and ethnographic collections gradually emerged as a distinct field—outside of Europe.
From several halls in the Louvre to the ethnographic museum at Trocadéro – this time is long, cumulative, and multi-layered.
From the Louvre to the first ethnographic collections
Originally displayed at the Louvre, the collections—primarily from the Americas—gradually found their place through specialized museum projects within the museum. They were successively named the „Musée Dauphin,“ the „Musée de Marine,“ and later the „Musée ethnographique.“.
In parallel, they are enriched thanks to the instructions given to sailors, explorers, and scientists who undertake journeys around the world. In 1878, the ethnographic museum „Trocadero“ was created from the accumulated materials.
The Evolution of Museums in the 20th Century
I will not burden you with a detailed history of French museums, but it is important to note that in 1931, a Colonial Museum was created, later the Museum of Man, and permanent exhibitions dedicated to African and Oceanic art.
Private collections of Picasso and André Breton also made a significant contribution, changing the aesthetic perception of so-called „primitive art.“.
After the decolonization processes in 1961, the Musée des Colonies was opened, and later the idea transformed to reach the museum's current form, created on the initiative of Jacques Chirac in 2006.
The present Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac is one of the most significant European public institutions dedicated to the preservation, study, and promotion of non-European arts and civilizations. Globally, it is often identified as one of the richest collections of its kind.
Paris as a cultural map
In this context, a unique cluster of museums takes shape—one typical of Paris, where distances are both short and symbolically vast: the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, the Grand and Petit Palais, and the Trocadéro.
The architecture of the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac
The project's author is the renowned French architect Jean Nouvel.
The concept and execution are exceptionally original – a deconstructed building in rich red and earthy tones, set amidst a surprisingly green and lush garden courtyard. Such landscape architecture is a rarity today and requires significant resources and maintenance.
It creates a sense of openness and space right in the heart of a bustling capital city. From the riverside street, the courtyard is separated by a transparent barrier that protects from noise and pollution. Light installations are placed everywhere, which are charged with solar energy – a clearly stated eco-concept.
The museum's symbol – the primal beginning
The museum's emblem is the prehistoric mother – a powerful, fertile figure, a symbol of the earth and beginnings. She belongs to the matriarchal era.
I will not retell „The History of Art“ or delve into academic interpretations. Yes, the prehistoric mother stands at the center of the concept of creation. From her womb, in a symbolic sense, the world is born.
The „La Chupicuaro“ figure is a polychrome female sculpture, 31 cm high, made of baked clay and dating from the pre-Columbian Chupicuaro culture in Mexico.
The feminine and masculine principles in different civilizations
The exhibition presents the power of fertility and the interaction between the feminine and masculine principles, traced across different continents and cultures.
Musée du Quai Branly as a Living Cultural Space
The Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac is simultaneously a museum, an educational and cultural center, and a scientific institution. On the museum's official website, it is possible to take a virtual tour of the exhibitions.
Encounter with the primal
If you are in Paris, take the time for this impressive building and its unique collection.
This is a place that shows the primary, but not the primitive.
It is precisely there that modern people have the opportunity to encounter the most ancient layers of human culture and to see them as part of their own history.
See more Author Maria Radeva here
