Musee du Quai Branly

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Located on the banks of the Seine River and at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, the Musee du Quai Branly is in a prime location in the heart of Paris. The building itself is the brainchild of Jean Nouvel, a noted French architect. The building itself, having opened in 2006, “resembles a long footbridge, partly covered with wood, and stretching into the trees”. Thick vegetation prevents visitors to the museum from seeing the whole building all at once, allowing the visitors to discover the building on their own as they pass through it. Once inside, glass walls allow visitors to the museum to see the masses of untamed greenery in the gardens outside. Abundant terraces allow guests to see different views of Paris and enjoy the gardens.
Surprisingly, the museum is entirely devoted to the indigenous arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas—not to European art as one might suspect. The museum boasts some 300,000 artifacts from these places, although only 3,500 are in the permanent collection. The museum displays are organized into their respective geographical areas for the most part, but some artifacts are arranged according to similarities. For instance, the Musee du Quai Branly features, “a massive glass edifice rising through 5 levels to the very top of the building, [holding] 8,700 musical instruments”. The museum also features an extensive collection of photographs. If one wishes to see more of what Quai Branly offers, they may see it in a branch of the Louvre.

By: Jenna Matheson