International

It is at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and European worlds that the Mucem places its international action. Inviting a plurality of views and historical trajectories, Mucem is a museum not of civilization, but of civilizations, with their singularities and their commonalities. It is in a spirit of exchange, far from an approach based on international influence, that the Mucem invites us to decentralize our viewpoints and reverse our perspectives as much as our approaches.

This is why the Mucem is committed to strong, reciprocal cooperation with museums and institutions in the Mediterranean and Europe. To this end, Mucem is developing two complementary initiatives.

– The first is to take our exhibitions on the road. Two working formats are favored: co-production, which will enable partners to work together on a long-term basis, and adaptation of the curatorial approach to the local context, which will foster numerous exchanges.
– Mucem’s second key area of cooperation is its participation in European Union programs. These commitments are long-term, lasting two to four years, and bring together a heterogeneous group of partners.

This heritage and institutional dimension, essential for a national museum, is extended by an original approach aimed at artists, collectives and emerging venues, for which the Musem intends to act as an echo chamber for their discourse. It is around this constellation of venues that a Mediterranean of projects will be born.

The Mucem is also a place for exchanging knowledge and know-how. Through the MucemLab, it provides a platform for Mediterranean professionals to meet and discuss common issues: restoring mosaics, enhancing an archaeological site, collecting living heritage, and more. These are just some of the topics covered by the training program, which is enriched by the needs and expectations of international partners.

The “Alexandria: (re)activating shared urban imaginaries” (ALEX) project aims to take a fresh look at the many challenges facing the arts and heritage sectors, through the symbolic and historical prism of the city of Alexandria and its influences on urban development in the Mediterranean and beyond. The project is part of Europe’s Creative Culture program.
To achieve this, it relied on several tools: the setting up of nomadic artistic residencies between Egypt and Europe, the production of exhibitions in the cities of Marseille and Brussels, and the organization of professional seminars and public forums.

Among other actions, ALEX included two residency cycles that evolved independently but met at different points in the project:

The School for Sonic Memory residency, organized by Onassis Stegi in collaboration with Theatrum Mundi :

In Marseilles, the last of the three cities visited by the School for Sonic Memory residency, the artists were able to deepen the interests aroused during their weeks in Alexandria and Athens.
Their stay led them to explore the city’s urban and sonic heritage, including a walk along the banks of the Marseilles canal, and to discover the museum and its collections.
Further information on the residency program.

Echoing the exhibition “Alexandrie: futurs antérieurs”, the Mucem has co-produced the installation “In Lieu of A Prism”, presented in Alexandria, Egypt from June 1 to 8, 2023. An installation presenting productions from two nomadic residencies during which artists traveled to Alexandria, Marseille, Athens, Nicosia, Brussels and Biella.
The installation, accompanied by a public program, discussions, performances and lectures, was held at B’sarya for Arts, the French Institute of Egypt in Alexandria and 6 Bab Sharq.
More information

Coordinated by the Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée in Marseille, with the support of cultural institutions from all over Europe and Egypt, the project is supported by the European Union’s Europe Creative Culture program.

Presentation of our partners on the Mucem International Relations page

BOZAR (Brussels)
-FondationOnassis Stegi (Athens)
-Muséeroyal de Mariemont (Belgium)
-Cittadellarte (Biella)
-University ofLeiden (Netherlands)
-Centre d’art contemporain Point (Cyprus)
-KunsthallAarhus (Denmark)

This project includes three associate partners:
-CLUSTER (Cairo)
-Institutfrançais d’Alexandrie
-TheatrumMundi (London)
Alexandria Project Alexandria: past futures exhibition