The Louvre Abu Dhabi recently celebrated its 5th anniversary, while the Centre Pompidou has recently set up branches in Malaga, Shanghai and Brussels. However, the action and influence of museums are not limited to these few emblematic examples. Exchanges between French and international cultural counterparts are varied. French museums collaborate in many different ways to share their expertise and collections abroad: loans of works, international cooperation, cultural engineering, touring temporary exhibitions, and so on. A wealth of expertise that France exports to bring the French cultural exception to the doorsteps of every country, and which is not exempt from technological and eco-responsibility challenges.
1 – CONSULTANCY AND ENGINEERING TO PASS ON FRENCH CULTURAL AND MUSEUM KNOW-HOW.
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) defines the core business of museums as “the research, collection, conservation, interpretation and exhibition of tangible and intangible heritage”. These are all skills and expertise specific to museum professionals, which can be developed on a project-by-project basis and in response to opportunities for collaboration (in connection with the loan of works or cooperative projects), or on a more permanent or systematized basis (support for the creation or transformation of sites operated by the dedicated departments of a cultural venue).
A. Support for international cultural institutions in connection with art loans.
Some museums provide occasional support to foreign cultural institutions with close ties to the collections they exhibit. On March 12, following the opening of a museum devoted to contemporary artists from the Arab world, the Centre Pompidou signed a partnership agreement with teams from the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) in Saudi Arabia. Beaubourg is providing these teams with “its scientific and technical expertise in staff training, particularly in conservation, collection management and mediation”, according to the press release.
B. Support for international cultural institutions in connection with cooperation projects.
Such expertise can also be the subject of intercultural exchanges between professionals. In 2022, Lyon’s Musée des Confluences took part in an international cooperation project in Vietnam.
This 6-day intervention enabled us to train Vietnamese heritage professionals in how to welcome the public in situ, and to support them in the transposition to Vietnam of an off-site mediation system currently deployed in the Lyon metropolis: the Cabanes à Histoires. This training course was designed for museums in Saigon, Danang and Hué, thanks to support from the Greater Lyon Metropolis and a local partner, the French Embassy in Vietnam.
Other examples of scientific exchange and sharing are also part of the French government’s cultural diplomacy. For example, in 2022, the Musée de l’Armée collaborated with more than 12 foreign cultural establishments, including the Deutsches Historisches Museum and the Rütskammer in Germany, the Musée Royal de l’Armée et de l’Histoire Militaire in Brussels, Imperial War Museums in London, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and the Swedish Livrustkammaren(source).
For all these projects, the role of the supervisory ministries, embassies and the network of French institutes is essential and should be particularly emphasized.
C. Support for international cultural institutions in long-term transformation or creation projects.
Museums are also involved in long-term engineering projects. This is the case of the Cité du Vin, which is leveraging its international expertise in wine-related mediation.
Since 2019, Cité teams have been involved in the creation of the Musée Universel du Vin in China’s Fangshan district, near Beijing. For Philippe Massol, director of the Cité, it was “important for the foundation to be involved in such a project, since it is recognized as a public utility, and aims to make the culture of wine accessible to as many people as possible”. Scheduled to open in 2024, the project will be replicated in other wine venues, notably in Chile and Italy (for more information, read this article).
D. Support for international cultural institutions through dedicated cultural engineering services.
Cultural establishments can also set up a dedicated department to export and pass on their know-how.
Louvre Conseil is a good example of this. This Musée du Louvre department mobilizes museum professionals to capitalize on their expertise and support international cultural institutions in their transformation projects, through training, auditing and consulting activities. Louvre Conseil has, for example, contributed to the rehabilitation of the Mosul Museum in Iraq, the Musée de la Boverie in Liège and the National Museum of Bosnia-Herzegovina in Sarajevo. This is also the raison d’être of the France Muséums consulting and cultural engineering agency, which, with the support of a network of 17 partner cultural establishments (Musée d’Orsay, Musée du quai Branly, Musée Rodin, etc.), assists with projects to create or transform cultural venues abroad.
Renowned for their scientific expertise, French museums work with foreign partners through audits, training courses, consultancy, inventory control, research and diplomatic cooperation… This unprecedented cultural presence enables France to call on experts in conservation, scientific research, mediation and visitor reception to promote French culture and know-how internationally. An effective soft power for spreading French culture abroad, amplified by the touring nature of many temporary exhibitions.
2 – TRAVELLING EXHIBITIONS TO PROMOTE FRENCH CULTURE.
Exhibition touring involves a wide range of players at every stage of the process: production, design, distribution and operation. To achieve this, museums can draw on recognized French scientific expertise, develop collaborations with local partners, and even create services and offers dedicated to this type of distribution.
A. Create and distribute exhibitions based on recognized know-how and expertise.
The various examples cited above illustrate the wealth of scientific expertise available in French museums. Some public and private partners are also involved in disseminating this scientific expertise, such as the Archéovision technological research unit.
This subsidiary of Bordeaux Montaigne University recently participated in the creation of animmersive exhibition on the heritage of Lalibela. The exhibition is the result of a conservation study that involved the digitization and 3D surveying of eleven UNESCO World Heritage rock churches in Ethiopia. This collaboration was made possible thanks to an international partnership between the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French Ministry of Culture and the French Embassy in Ethiopia (to find out more about this project, see the presentation given at the Duos de l’innovation at the last edition of Museum Connections).
B. Call on local partners.
To ensure distribution in certain regions, setting up a joint exhibition project with a local cultural institution can facilitate contacts with other partners.
For its ” baby animals ” exhibition, the Museum de Toulouse set up a co-production with the Brussels Natural Science Museum in 2014.
This co-production then facilitated distribution to three Benelux museums (the Museon de La Haye in the Netherlands, the Muséum de Bruxelles and the Science Center Heilbronn in Germany).
Another particularly original example of distribution with the support of a locally-based partner is the Notre-Dame de Paris touring exhibition : the augmented exhibition.
This exhibition, conceived by the public institution in charge of the conservation and restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris(EPRNDP) with the Histovery company, has benefited from the patronage of L’Oréal. As such, the exhibition was supported by L’Oréal for touring in 6 countries where the group is present (Washington’s National Building Museum, Dubai World Expo, the Collège des Bernardins, Dresden’s Grand Garden Palace, the New Orleans Historical Collection, Shanghai’s Bund 18) and is currently on show at the Maison de France in Berlin.
C. Develop in-house skills for exhibition distribution.
Cultural institutions can also mobilize their in-house teams to produce and distribute their exhibitions worldwide. The example of the Château de Versailles in Asia is a good illustration of this mobilization and the development of in-house skills.
Since 2018, the Virtually Versailles digital exhibition has been rolling out free of charge in China to enhance long-standing relationships and raise the profile of the Versailles estate in Asia. Several immersive devices – such as connected bicycles, virtual reality headsets (broadcasting the VR works Versailles VR and Vivez Versailles), holograms or 380° projection rooms – manage to remotely recreate the château. In order to be distributed in Singapore (2018 – 50,000 visitors in 5 weeks of operation), Shanghai (2021), Honk Kong (2023) and soon (subject to international news) in Beijing, Shenzen, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqinq and Xi’an, Versailles is piloting distribution through a local partner in each city, such as the Hong Kong Heritage Museum at present.
The internationalization of Versailles’ digital expertise contributes to the reputation of this cultural institution. In addition to this technological expertise, new approaches to eco-responsible exhibition touring can be a source of innovation. These approaches were the subject of a previous article reporting on one of the themes discussed at the last edition of Museum Connections: How to make a cultural venue more sustainable and eco-responsible?
3 – OPENING REMARKS: A FEW ISSUES ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THIS POLICY OF INTERNATIONALIZATION.
Like the movement of visitors, the international movement of works of art and exhibitions raises the question of their environmental impact. This aspect has already been addressed by many cultural institutions, such as the Muséum de Toulouse. To make the itinerary of its ” Impact, la biodiversité en question ” exhibition more sustainable, the Toulouse-based institution has carried out a number of initiatives over the past few years:
- FROM THE DESIGN: Reuse of 95% of the display elements from a London exhibition, recycling of wood from an old factory, use of eco-friendly materials (100% recyclable Dibond® aluminum composite panels, honeycomb cardboard and eco-friendly inks);
- EXPLOITATION : Installation of translated texts on magnetic panels placed above the originals, priority communication with potential audiences within a radius of a few hundred kilometers of the current exhibition;
- DISTRIBUTION: Carbon offsetting for each journey, transport in flight cases (wheeled and light) by identifying “museums and cultural sites capable of receiving these cases”;
- FROM END OF CYCLE : partnership with a recycling platform (recycling or reintegration into a circular economy) for new uses (furniture, design) or reinstallation in ICCs (theater, cinema…).
In conclusion, the approaches of cultural institutions involved in international development are particularly varied. Although these approaches are in line with their scientific and dissemination missions, they can also respond to a wide variety of challenges in terms of cultural cooperation, communications or the development of their own resources. Depending on these challenges, they are integrated differently within their organizations (mobilizing ad hoc teams or creating dedicated departments). They can also be the focus of a wide range of collaborations (diplomatic networks, research laboratories, local cultural institutions, businesses, etc.). Last but not least, they are a key area for experimentation in terms of both technological innovation and eco-responsibility.
Antoine ROLAND / Baudouin DUCHANGE
