5 years already!

Where does the Mucem source these objects?

Mucem

Why is the Mucem, whose collection already numbers over a million items, continuing to add to it?

Emilie Girard (E.G.)

The collection is indeed both rich and large, but historically it has been very linked to French culture, inasmuch as the Mucem inherited assets from the Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions. In fact until around 2000, the collection was essentially French. Since the museum set itself the breadth of the Mediterranean region, it thus became necessary to re-vector our acquisitions policy in favour of this new area of competency. For the year 2017, 82% of Mucerm acquisitions come from the Mediterranean area. This says it all.

Mucem

Traditional jewellery from the Maghreb, contemporary video art, a flute playing automaton, an Albanian cement mixer, … the objects presented in this exhibition demonstrate great diversity in the collections. What connects them all? And how are each of them potentially pertinent to the Mucem?

E.G.

Each of these objects says something about the society that produced them, from geographic and cultural, as well as historic, points of view. They are witnesses to an epoque and of a social practice. From Popular Art objects to actual works of art, each demonstrates the context in which it was made.
Take the example of the Albanian cement mixer: it comes from a building site and was then painted by the artist who thus changed its status. It is no longer a commonplace object, but a work of art. Moreover, the artist painted on it motifs that can be found in certain traditional Albanian textiles. This neatly illustrates our policy of being geared towards Contemporary Art, but always with a connection to the historic collections of the museum.

Mucem

E.G.

Sometimes, they are offered to us directly, through donation proposals or purchases undertaken by individuals. We are also approached by galleries and auction houses. But in many cases, it’s the conservators themselves who go off to locate an object. Every conservator has their own specialised area of interest, which involves following developments in relevant galleries and sales catalogs and building up a network of collectors and amateurs, who will help find new objects of interest and new sources for the Mucem collections.

Mucem
As well as traditionally sourced acquisitions, Mucem has also established acquisition campaigns all around the Mediterranean basin. So this really is something that marks the museum out?

E.G.

It is indeed albeit unusual, but very useful for a museum about society such as the Mucem. We first define a specific research theme for a period of one, two or three years, and then send out field investigators whose goal is to come back with “contextualised” objects, ie those that have come about through statements, research and interviews, and allow us to harvest the most information. This strategy enables us to obtain sets of objects with a clear context as to their origin.

Mucem

What sort of objects stem from such investigatory acquisitions?

E.G.

One example is the Tom Craig photograph fund that was acquired further to a major HIV Aids campaign and which documents the fight against the virus during the 1980s.  Others are objects linked to graffiti, which are part of an acquisitions policy carried out by the museum for over 10 years in France, and also in Italy, Spain, the Maghreb, etc. This began before the current craze in the market for this type of discipline.

Mucem
At what point once an object has been located that is a decision reached about acquisition?

E.G.

First, every conservator puts forward an acquisition proposal during monthly internal meetings. If the committee validates this, the next phase involving the acquisitions committee begins and it meets once a year. Members include Mucem representatives as well as others from outside bodies (Ministry of Culture, other museums, a restorer, etc) and they vote on whether to acquire the item(s) or not. There is also a third phase for items that will cost over a certain threshold and this depends on the the Museums Service of the Ministry of Culture, who exercise a statutory duty.  In the last five years, the Mucem thus acquired over 1,700 objects.

Mucem
Can the general public view these new acquisitions?

E.G.

Some are shown during temporary exhibitions, as for instance with the items linked to the carnaval we acquired for the exhibition “The World upside down” in 2014.
Mucem entire collection can also be viewed online on the museum website. Lastly, it’s also possible for anyone to make an appointment at the Center for Conservation and Resources at la Belle de Mai in central Marseille. Whether a researcher, a high school or university student, or just someone who’s curious, it’s possible to view any object there – recently acquired or not – from the museum’s collections.