Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac
Indigenous art from four continents in a Jean Nouvel building with a living plant wall.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Musée du quai Branly in Paris traces the friendship between then-mayor Jacques Chirac and art dealer Jacques Kerchache, who argued in 1990 that African sculpture deserved to stand beside the Mona Lisa rather than sit in ethnography storerooms. It follows their fight against the cultural establishment, architect Jean Nouvel's design for the building that took their case, and the disputed treasures from the Kingdom of Danhomè that once sat here for over a century. Start at the living plant wall on the facade before heading in.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Fondation Louis Vuitton
Twelve glass sails by Frank Gehry — a Bois de Boulogne landmark saved by an act of parliament.
Arab World Institute
Jean Nouvel's 1987 cultural bridge with two hundred and forty motorized mashrabiya apertures on its south facade.
Louvre Museum
World's largest art museum, housing thirty-five thousand works including the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.
The Centre Pompidou
Inside-out icon with color-coded pipes, Europe's largest modern art collection, and rooftop panoramas.
Musée d'Orsay
Beaux-Arts railway terminus turned Impressionist shrine, with a soaring iron-and-glass nave and monumental clocks.
Musée de l'Orangerie
Two oval, skylit rooms holding Monet's monumental Water Lilies — ninety-one metres of canvas he designed to never leave.