Roc Eclerc Foundation

"The obvious nature of this patronage

FUNECAP GROUPE is a funeral services and infrastructure group operating in the heart of France’s regions, particularly in the Bouches-du-Rhône, through its national brand, ROC ECLERC. Having evolved from a centuries-old profession that served as the logistical link between the Church and the cemetery, funeral homes must now reinvent themselves in response to sociological changes. Organizing funerals—as well as memorial services, which are no longer necessarily religious—enabling people to plan their own funerals in advance, and building infrastructure tailored to families’ new needs can only be achieved by reflecting on the bond that unites the living and the deceased. This proposal for sponsorship from the Mucem for the “Pharaohs Superstars” exhibition therefore naturally caught the full attention of the ROC ECLERC Foundation.

Much of our knowledge of ancient Egypt comes from the pyramids. But what is a pyramid? It is a funerary monument, a tomb erected to leave a mark of one’s time on earth and to demonstrate the power of a reign. As André Malraux so aptly pointed out in his opening speech for the Tutankhamun exhibition on February 16, 1967, at the Louvre, “this art, which is so often funerary, is almost never strictly mournful […] What it (Egypt) sought […] was precisely the abolition of death, the conception of human life as eternity.”

By sponsoring an exhibition focused on the pharaohs, the ROC ECLERC Foundation reaffirms the importance of funeral rites, which are at the heart of the service we strive to provide to families: to honor the dead, to bring comfort to the living, of course, but also for the remarkable insights and testimonies they convey across the ages.  Planning one’s own funeral, organizing a memorable ceremony, and erecting a monument may seem like modern concerns, but they have in fact spanned the ages for at least 4,500 years. The employees of the ROC ECLERC brand are confronted with these questions on a daily basis, and the ROC ECLERC Foundation is proud to help shed light on them and thus contribute to the grand narrative of human history.”

Isabelle MALA
Executive Director of the ROC ECLERC Foundation