No subject

found
in Paris, split between the Mus=E9e de l'Homme and the Palais de la =
Porte
Dor=E9e. Some 300,000 objects=97masks, stools, statues, musical =
instruments,
textiles, costumes, jewellery, ceramics=97have been assembled, cleaned,
documented, tagged, photographed and put online for the use of =
researchers.
Like the Pompidou Centre, Quai Branly is designed not only to attract
one-off tourists but regular visitors and students with research =
interests,
providing them with a library and classrooms. Of the stock, some 3,500 =
items
will be on permanent exhibit at once, and many of those in storage will =
be
visible in a glass-fronted central circular vault.

On the banks of the Seine in the capital's swanky seventh =
arrondissement,
the museum insolently interrupts the neighbouring streets of =
19th-century
Haussmann apartments. Perched on ten-metre-high (33 feet) curved =
supporting
pillars, rather like a grounded spaceship, it is set back from the road =
in a
landscaped garden. Created by Jean Nouvel, designer of the Institut du =
Monde
Arabe, also in Paris, and of the Torre Agbar in Barcelona, it is a =
startling
architectural composite. Inside, a wide white suspended ramp, winding =
gently
upwards across the main exhibition hall, recalls Frank Lloyd Wright's
Guggenheim Museum in New York. Outside, a horizontal row of two dozen =
giant,
Lego-like boxes protrude from the riverside fa=E7ade, painted in earthy =
tones
of aubergine, ochre and tan.=20

Geometric shapes meet flowing curves; plate glass meets natural wood;
concrete meets vegetation. Detractors lament the architectural medley. =
But
the overall result is oddly harmonious, perhaps because of the linking =
theme
of nature. Once the trees planted on it mature, the site will be shaded =
and
woodlike. There is even an extraordinary 800-square-metre =93vegetation =
wall=94:
a vertical garden in which 150 different plant species have taken root =
on
polyamide felt, stapled to waterproof PVC slabs and fed by automatic
hosepipes. Mr Nouvel said he wanted to create space organised around =
=93the
symbols of the forest, the river and the obsessions of death and =
oblivion=94.=20

The museum's permanent collection is made up of traditional artefacts,
arranged mainly by geographical region. It includes familiar items, such =
as
Kota reliquary figures in wood, brass and copper from eastern Gabon, as =
well
as rare treasures, such as the tenth- or 11th-century Djennenk=E9 =
pre-Dogon
statue from contemporary Mali, carved in wood and standing nearly two =
metres
high. No dusty corners or cramped drawers of curiosities here, just =
dimmed
lighting and big white spaces. The central idea is to dignify =
traditional
art, and, says St=E9phane Martin, the museum's director, =93to put =
non-European
culture on an equal footing with other civilisations=94. To this end, =
Quai
Branly's original working title =93Museum of Primary Arts=94 was dropped =
because
of its association with the primitive and replaced with a neutral =
reference
to the museum's location.

The project has stirred much controversy, however. Inevitably, =
ethnologists
have decried the d=E9contextualisation of artefacts that were never =
designed
as aesthetic objects, but for practical, mystical or ritual purposes.
Scholars from the two museums that surrendered their collections are
particularly disgruntled. Yet why treat an ancient Greek vase as art and =
not
a Zulu headrest? It was a collection of African masks in Paris, after =
all,
that in 1907 inspired Picasso to explore abstract representation. He was
moved, he said, by =93the sublime beauty of sculptures executed by the
anonymous artists of Africa.=94

Point for reflection
More awkward, perhaps, is the symbolism of Quai Branly. The permanent
collection's exclusive emphasis on traditional artefacts sits =
uncomfortably
with the efforts by younger curators these days, in cities such as
Johannesburg, to confront such tribal clich=E9s of Africa. They contest =
the
way African art is ghettoised and exoticised. Contemporary artists deal =
in
tin, metal, recycled industrial materials. They want to show that Africa =
too
can be modern, gritty and urban.=20

Mr Martin replies that the permanent collection is but a =93starting =
point for
reflection=94; the museum =93will explore the world in its modernity =
too=94
through temporary exhibitions, debates, dance and theatre. Part of one
building, for instance, has been decorated to delightful effect by eight
Australian aboriginal artists. This includes the ceiling of the museum =
shop,
painted in warm hues of red, orange, white and black, in a fine woven
cross-hatch interspersed with sun-like circles. The point, argues Mr =
Martin,
is not to dwell on the past but to offer to French people of immigrant
origin a cultural reference that is =93not only Louis XIV or the
Impressionists=94.=20

Whether the youths of the Paris banlieue, whose anger exploded in =
rioting on
the streets last autumn, stream in to admire the art of their ancestors
remains to be seen. Entrance to the garden is free, as is access to the
roof-top terrace with its stunning view. As for Mr Chirac, a former =
mayor of
Paris, he may have little to show politically for his decade in power, =
but
he has at least helped to bequeath something of value to the city that
launched his political career.=20

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