To the baths!
"Corps, Regards, Pouvoirs, une histoire culturelle du Bain" (Bodies, Views, Powers: a cultural history of the bath)
From March 7 to June 21, 2020, Mucem is presenting an original exhibition on the history of the bath in Europe, “Corps, Regards, Pouvoirs, une histoire culturelle du Bain”, in collaboration with the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Baden-Baden (Germany).
A unique partnership between Mucem and a contemporary art center in a spa town in the Black Forest, for a historical and artistic look at the bath.
As the simplest possible link between the human body and one of its main components, water, bathing has been a practice for all Mediterranean peoples for thousands of years, with many changes and contrasts. The Mediterranean region stands out from the rest of the world for the early and extensive creation of artificial baths. In fact, they began to flourish here as early as Antiquity, only to undergo successive waves of rejection and modification. These upheavals are remarkable not only for the way their ripples reverberated throughout the Mediterranean basin, but also for the societal practices and behaviors they revealed. There isn’t just one bath, but many, so each one or almost every one is practiced and appreciated differently, depending on the virtues attributed to it.
Whether individual or collective, public or private, sacred or profane, bathing has profound meanings, like all constituted and organized social practices.
This exhibition on bathing thus allows us to question the social organization of a civilization through a collective practice, the link between religion, nudity and intimacy, or hygiene, aesthetics and social achievements.
The Mucem wanted to explore the history of Europe and the Mediterranean through the mirror of its baths, in association with the Kunsthalle of Baden-Baden, a European spa town where the tradition of bathing is an integral part of the city.
The exhibition features over a hundred objects from major French and German collections, including the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the Louvre Museum, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD) in Paris, the Musée Cognacq-Jay and the Château de Versailles in France, and the Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe, Bremen, Stuttgart and Aachen.
It also features over forty objects from the Mucem, the Musée d’Histoire and the Musée d’Archéologie Méditerranéenne de la Ville de Marseille.
Finally, the exhibition provokes an original dialogue between heritage objects and works by contemporary artists, including Paul Chan, Thomas Demand, Shiaru Shiota, Delphine Reist…
Curators: Florence Hudowicz (curator of graphic and decorative arts, Musée Fabre, Montpellier), Camille Faucourt (curator, Mucem), Hendrik Bundge (Kunsthalle Baden Baden), Luisa Heesse (Kunsthalle Baden Baden)
Coordination: Mikaël Mohamed (International Relations Manager at Mucem)
A cooperative project between the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden and Mucem, with the museums of the city of Baden-Baden.
Based on an original idea by Mucem.
From March 21 to September 6, 2020, the Museum of Arts and Crafts LA8 (Baden-Baden) presents another exhibition that examines the contemporary phenomenon of body worship and the practice of bathing in the 19th century.
From March 7 to June 21, 2020, Mucem is presenting an original exhibition on the history of the bath in Europe, “Corps, Regards, Pouvoirs, une histoire culturelle du Bain”, in collaboration with the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Baden-Baden (Germany).
A unique partnership between Mucem and a contemporary art center in a spa town in the Black Forest, for a historical and artistic look at the bath.
As the simplest possible link between the human body and one of its main components, water, bathing has been a practice for all Mediterranean peoples for thousands of years, with many changes and contrasts. The Mediterranean region stands out from the rest of the world for the early and extensive creation of artificial baths. In fact, they began to flourish here as early as Antiquity, only to undergo successive waves of rejection and modification. These upheavals are remarkable not only for the way their ripples reverberated throughout the Mediterranean basin, but also for the societal practices and behaviors they revealed. There isn’t just one bath, but many, so each one or almost every one is practiced and appreciated differently, depending on the virtues attributed to it.
Whether individual or collective, public or private, sacred or profane, bathing has profound meanings, like all constituted and organized social practices.
This exhibition on bathing thus allows us to question the social organization of a civilization through a collective practice, the link between religion, nudity and intimacy, or hygiene, aesthetics and social achievements.
The Mucem wanted to explore the history of Europe and the Mediterranean through the mirror of its baths, in association with the Kunsthalle of Baden-Baden, a European spa town where the tradition of bathing is an integral part of the city.
The exhibition features over a hundred objects from major French and German collections, including the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the Louvre Museum, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD) in Paris, the Musée Cognacq-Jay and the Château de Versailles in France, and the Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe, Bremen, Stuttgart and Aachen.
It also features over forty objects from the Mucem, the Musée d’Histoire and the Musée d’Archéologie Méditerranéenne de la Ville de Marseille.
Finally, the exhibition provokes an original dialogue between heritage objects and works by contemporary artists, including Paul Chan, Thomas Demand, Shiaru Shiota, Delphine Reist…
Curators: Florence Hudowicz (curator of graphic and decorative arts, Musée Fabre, Montpellier), Camille Faucourt (curator, Mucem), Hendrik Bundge (Kunsthalle Baden Baden), Luisa Heesse (Kunsthalle Baden Baden)
Coordination: Mikaël Mohamed (International Relations Manager at Mucem)
A cooperative project between the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden and Mucem, with the museums of the city of Baden-Baden.
Based on an original idea by Mucem.
From March 21 to September 6, 2020, the Museum of Arts and Crafts LA8 (Baden-Baden) presents another exhibition that examines the contemporary phenomenon of body worship and the practice of bathing in the 19th century.
