Collections permanentes du Musée d'Arts Africains, Océaniens, Amérindiens - MAAOA

The Museum of African, Oceanian and Amerindian Arts - MAAOA presents an important collection of non-European art objects, both cultural testimonies and works of art in their own right. The Museum of African, Oceanian and Amerindian Arts - MAAOA presents an important collection of non-European art objects, both cultural testimonies and works of art in their own right. Born from remarkable collections, it contributes to a better understanding of the cultures of Africa, Oceania and the Americas. Various perspectives have successively been brought to bear on the non-European collections. Initially perceived as objects of pure curiosity, from the 18th century onwards they contributed to a first understanding of the world’s cultural diversity. The 20th century saw the dual recognition of these objects, both by scholars who documented them and by artists who proclaimed the contribution of these arts to their reflections and experiments with new forms. Enlightened collectors followed both paths. The beginning of the 21st century has opened with questions about the provenance of these works, their usefulness in the museum and their restitution to their countries of origin. The MAAOA is heir to these perspectives. It is so through the nature of the collections it presents (former private collections, deposits, remnants of colonial museums and more recent collections), and also through its mission: to make these objects intelligible today, as testimonies to the history and culture of the people and societies from which they come. The MAAOA’s distinctive character and interest lie in the three rooms that make up its permanent collection: each originated from an individual collection. - The Africa room is made up in part of a donation to the City by the heirs of Pierre Guerre (1910–1978), a major collector of African art who had been fascinated by the continent since the age of 12. This collection consists of around one hundred masks, statues… supplemented by objects deposited by the CCIMP and other acquisitions. Among the highlights: a Marka mask (Mali), three exceptional Fang bieri reliquaries (Gabon), and a Nuna mask (Burkina Faso). - The Oceania–Americas room: in 1989, the City of Marseille acquired the unique collection of Marseille neurologist Henri Gastaut (1915–1995): a series of 80 skulls collected from around the world—human skulls that were sculpted, painted, modelled or engraved, originating mainly from Oceania and the Americas. This exceptional collection is also supplemented by works deposited by the CCIMP, objects from collections made by the MAAOA in Vanuatu, and magnificent Amerindian feather ornaments donated by Marcel Heckenroth (1902–2008), a doctor in French Guiana between 1939 and 1942. - The Mexico room is devoted to a remarkable collection of Mexican folk art: nearly 3,000 objects—masks, yarn paintings, trees of life and sculptures—acquired by filmmaker François Reichenbach (1921–1993) during his many trips to Mexico and bequeathed to the City of Marseille in 1994. In 2016, the collection of Bernard Meusnier, consisting of remarkable huipil textiles and magnificent alebrije sculptures, those famous papier-mâché monsters, completed the ensemble. “Seeing one another is one thing; knowing one another is another.” African proverb Please do not hesitate to contact the museum before your visit to prepare for it. We also recommend contacting the museum for any visit planned around the permanent collections on weekends, to avoid any inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding. - To discover in the galleries Missed Encounters? On the occasion of the loan of several subject-objects from its collections, the Museum of African, Oceanian and Amerindian Arts – MAAOA uses their invisibility within the permanent display to initiate a poetic, playful and philosophical dialogue around the themes of absence and emptiness. Through a digital tour created in partnership with DNMADe Graphic Design and Interactive Narratives at the École Supérieure de Design Marseille, visitors are invited to question the history of the MAAOA collections and thus take part in the reflection the institution has begun on its future. - [Re]thinking the MAAOA For several months, the museum has been undertaking a process of reflection: [Re]thinking the MAAOA, whose collaborative methodology ensures the definition of shared spaces and times for construction. This process, which involves an international committee chaired by philosopher and Columbia University professor Souleymane Bachir Diagne, is based both on the museum’s desire to establish a reasoned symmetry in its relations with the communities, their representatives and their diasporas from which the collections originate, and on its ability to demonstrate transparency, whether methodological, historical or cultural. + more info: https://musees.marseille.fr/repenser-le-maaoa-retrouvez-les-travaux-du-comite-de-reflexion ► To ensure that you can enjoy the complete tour of all our exhibition rooms, we invite you to contact the Museum before your visit. ► All visits and activities related to the exhibition are available on the website musees.marseille.fr