Don Quixote: A Madman’s Tale, A Tale to Laugh At

Year of publication: 2025

Features

Bilingual French / English
With contributions by Mathilde Roman and Hélia Paukner
Art direction: Julie Peeters
Éditions du Mucem

Dimensions: 21 x 29 cm
Number of pages: 112
EAN 9791092708295

22€

The book has been conceived as a visual promenade leading from Marseille’s Old Port to Fort Saint-Jean, and into the very heart of each work. To recreate this encounter between artist Laure Prouvost and the Mucem, there is a constant dialogue between the exterior, the sea and the stone of the fort, and the interior, the intimacy of the installations that unfold in the air, in the bowels of the earth and underwater… Conceived in close collaboration with the artist, the book captures this moment in time, thanks to photographic work specially carried out by Raphaël Massart, and to an evocative form designed by the artist: like a book also floating in the Mediterranean. To accompany this visual sequence, a booklet embedded in the heart of the book contains texts by exhibition curator Hélia Paukner and art historian Mathilde Roman.

Published by Mucem / Jardin Majorelle Foundation
Paperback
160 pages
17 x 21 cm
ISBN 979-10-92708-28-8

Salima Naji and Alexis Sornin

Meriem Berrada, Marc Breviglieri, Marie-Charlotte Calafat, David Goeury, Mohamed Mouskite, Myriem Naji, Salima Naji, Ahmed Skounti, and Alexis Sornin.

In Amazigh culture, any act of adornment—whether it involves decorating the body, clothing, or a home—reflects a concern for belonging, protection, and connection to the cycle of life. These acts are never trivial: they embody a collective memory, a symbolic or magical filter that connects the body, the home, and the community.
Since the earliest myths, the matrix from which the birth of Amazigh culture is conceived has been feminine.
Tattoos, jewelry, ceramics, and textiles all follow the same grammar of forms and symbols. Whether aesthetic, therapeutic, or apotropaic, these motifs also serve as markers of social and gender identity.

This book explores these protective circles—these visible and invisible thresholds—through the objects, surfaces, and narratives in which they take shape. It highlights the often female-led craft traditions—from weaving to practices tied to lunar cycles—while paying tribute to male artisans, such as goldsmiths. Drawing on research and contemporary perspectives, it examines the concept of “Berber permanence,” the dynamics of transmission within the Amazigh diaspora, and the cultural appropriations to which this “matrimoine”/heritage is sometimes subject today.

224 pages
, 22 x 28 cm, paperback
Co-published by Mucem and RMN
In French
ISBN: 9782711881598
39 euros

Juliette Bessette and Enguerrand Lascols

Frédérique Aït-Touati, Florian Audureau, Isabel Bonora-Andujar, Anna Caiozzo, Khalid Chakor-Alami, Ahmed Djebbar, Arnaud Esquerre, Sabine Guermouche, Emmanuel Hugot, Eric Lagadec, Michel Marcelin, Sara Ouhaddou, Giorgio Strano, Marine Vazzoler

The richly illustrated exhibition catalog features six previously unpublished essays addressing a variety of themes, ranging from the circulation of astronomical knowledge in the Mediterranean basin to contemporary practices in astrology. It also features four interviews that explore current issues, particularly our relationship with the starry sky in the context of environmental upheavals, for example with science historian Aït-Touati and astrophysicist Éric Lagadec. Finally, detailed descriptions of the major works featured in the exhibition round out this collection.

Much like this exhibition, which resembles a large-scale installation where everything is mixed together and even a small folk art object can be presented in a grand manner, the book takes the form of a comic book, with a vibrant and cheerful cover specially illustrated by Hervé Di Rosa.

Inside, however, the catalog takes a more traditional approach. It includes an interview with the artist, two articles devoted to his biography and working methods, as well as three essays discussing, respectively, the embedding of art in literature, the “proper use” of objects, and, finally, the transformations in museum exhibition design in which Hervé Di Rosa participates as an “alchemist.” The book’s illustrations also reflect this striking blend: alongside reproductions of artworks and objects from the Mucem, several pages are devoted to views of the exhibition design in order to best recreate the “museum archipelago” conceived by the artist, free from any predetermined visitor route. Unpublished preparatory sketches also allow readers to go behind the scenes of Hervé Di Rosa’s creative process and the design of this exhibition.

En écho à la liberté et la fantaisie de cette exposition-spectacle, le catalogue prend la forme d’un livre-objet plein de surprises : notre déambulation de lecteur passe, grâce à des changements de formats de papier, d’un univers à un autre, tandis que l’imaginaire de Macha Makeïeff s’invite sans cesse dans le dialogue entre les objets et les œuvres. Mais la dimension scientifique n’en est pas pour autant exclue, puisque cinq essais, sur des sujets parfois inédits, nourrissent cette expérience sensible : ils sont signés de Pascal Jacob et Marika Maymard, les plus grands spécialistes français de l’histoire du cirque, Sébastien Delmer, philosophe hanté par la question du courage et du panache, Frédéric Saumade, spécialiste des rites animaliers, ou encore Stéphane Goudet, historien du cinéma. Le monde du spectacle vivant prend lui aussi la parole à travers diverses cartes blanches données par Macha Makeïeff à un comédien, un metteur en scène ou encore un artiste de la lumière…