The Hôtel Gadagne, Lyon’s history museum, has been the talk of the town since it was completely redeveloped. The controversy centres on the way in which part of the exhibition revisits the city’s history in its own highly partisan way. We won’t even go into that debate, which is not the main issue. The museography of the Musée Gadagne - and the building itself - had already been severely damaged during the previous renovations we reported on here. It wasn’t brilliant, but it was still a museum.
And if the new tour is shocking, it’s for much more serious reasons. Quite simply, because it shows almost nothing of Gadagne’s important collections. What is a museum that does not present its works of art to the public?
Wouldn’t the best way to do this be to use images to illustrate the tour? It’s a bit long and very empty, often grotesque, but it will allow everyone to make up their own minds. One wonders how the regional direction of cultural affairs was able to approve such a scientific and cultural project (which has little to do with science, and even less with culture). It should be remembered that the museum law imposes four missions on these establishments, including that of "making their collections accessible to the widest possible audience". The new Gadagne museum is doing just the opposite.
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- 1. First panel of the permanent tour of the Musée Gadagne
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
The entrance sign to the first section (there are four) is already questionable as it uses inclusive writing (ill. 1). The museum’s director, Xavier de la Selle, defends himself - and we’ll be giving him the floor at greater length in a future article (because we’re obliged to serializing, otherwise readers will get bored) - by saying that inclusive writing is only used occasionally. That’s still too much, and it’s hardly coherent. Even leaving this question aside, the text is an abysmal failure. Judge for yourself. In response to the question "Can we define Lyon?" (which few people ask, because it means nothing), this sign answers: "Lyonnais·e or not, we have in mind images and objects, places or personalities that make us think of Lyon. These symbols say something about the city’s identity, but they are sometimes commonplaces or clichés. Like all cities, Lyon is constantly changing. To get to grips with its ’soul’, you have to explore its different neighbourhoods, observe its architecture and the little things that make up city life".
There isn’t a major city anywhere in the world, to which this distressingly poorly inspired text, full of "commonplaces and clichés", couldn’t be applied. Remember that one of the other missions of museums, according to the law, is to "design and implement educational and dissemination initiatives aimed at ensuring equal access to culture for all". What kind of culture are we talking about at the Musée Gadagne? Because this is just the beginning of a long ordeal that has little to do with culture.
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- 2. First room of the Musée Gadagne
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 3. First room of the Musée Gadagne
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 4. The Olympique Lyonnais jersey on display at the Musée Gadagne
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
The first room is split into two parts (ill. 2) and pretty much empty. There is, however, a map of the town on one wall, if you can call it that as it is almost as empty as the room. On another (ill. 3) a huge photo entitled: "A curious history of Lyon". The label indicates its subject: "The six people in the history of Lyon look with delight and pride at the great symbols of the city and present to the world the small scenes of city life". The author is Stéphane Casali, and an internet search reveals that he is a "photographer in period costumes".
Several niches in another wall display very few objects, including a jersey of the city’s football club, Olympique Lyonnais (ill. 4), postcards and a sausage (we’re not joking). None of this makes much sense, and that’s just the beginning.
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- 5. Room 2 of the Musée Gadagne (room 3 is based on the same model)
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
Because this is a Lyon history museum, isn’t it? So the history of Lyon is told to you in the next two rooms (ill. 5). A very short history of Lyon, it’s true. Each major historical period is described in a panel (we’ll see how), with a photo of a person in period costume, an aerial view of Lyon supposed to give an idea of what the city looked like at the time, and a display case (there are as many as there are chronological periods) containing one or more keys and a shoe (ill. 6 to 9). Why a shoe and keys? Because, according to the press kit, it "adds a sensitive and human trace". And to enable visitors - we’re not joking, it’s written in the windows - to "discover the keys to the city [by] entering[ing] step by step into history". At the Musée Gadagne, they’re not afraid of the ridiculous.
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- 6. Keys and a child’s shoe
Musée Gadagne
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 7. A shoe and keys
Musée Gadagne
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 8. A clog and keys
Musée Gadagne
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 9. A trainer and keys
Musée Gadagne
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 10. How did Lyon become Lyon?
(yes, how?)
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
Thankfully, there are the signs that summarise for us (to put it mildly) the history of the town over several centuries. We discover (ill. 10) how Lyon came to be, with some shocking revelations: "The city of today is the fruit of long evolution". It’s hard to believe. "At the crossroads of North and South, its geographical location is both favourable and constraining, between three hills and at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers". For those who don’t know, Lyon is built on three hills and at the confluence of two rivers. "In nearly 2,000 years of continuous development, the Roman city of Lugdunum became the city it is today". Just think: the city of 2000 years ago has evolved into the Lyon of today! It certainly took a lot of thought and research to write a sentence like this. But the best part comes at the end of this long and instructive cartel: "In its walls and on its ground, its transformations leave traces of the architecture and activity of its inhabitants for each era". There’s no doubt that a pupil in the third year of secondary school writing such a truism in a copy would get a less than stellar mark. Let’s not forget that we’re in a museum whose aim is to educate and ensure access to culture for all, and that this is based (according to the press kit): "on an interdisciplinary process of research and preliminary interviews conducted with more than a hundred experts and researchers [1]". To this, Xavier de la Selle replied that we should read the venue booklets, which are apparently much richer. But since when do we go to museums to read booklets instead of seeing works?
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- 11. The history of Lyon at the Musée Gadagne
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
The panels devoted to the chronological periods are of the same standard. Here, for example (ill. 11), is how ten centuries of the city’s history are summarised, "from the 4th century to the 14th century": "After several centuries of retreat, Lyon experienced a new boom around the year 800. The Saône was the city’s central artery, with two centres developing on either side: the episcopal quarter around Saint Jean cathedral, where the archbishop’s powers were concentrated, and the medieval town on the peninsula opposite, where commercial and craft activities were based. From the 12th century onwards, Lyon underwent rapid urban development. However, limited to the south by the confluence and to the east by the Rhône, a true natural boundary, the city was still unable to expand. So it grew denser".
Let’s be clear: a museum does not have to become a history book. It should illustrate its purpose with works of art. But here the message is confoundingly simple, and the works are totally absent.
For the period 1957-2015, here’s what the room text says: "In the 1960s-1970s, Mayor Louis Pradel imagined a city turned towards modernity. The quays were dedicated to car traffic and parking, and the metro served the city centre. Large blocks of flats were built and the new Part-Dieu district became a second administrative and economic centre. From the 2000s onwards, urban regeneration projects such as the Confluence district began to proliferate. The Rhône and Saône riverbanks were redeveloped, bringing the city closer to its waterways. Towers are gradually forming a new skyline. In 2015, the Metropole of Lyon was created".
Don’t forget that we’re in the Hôtel Gadagne, in Vieux-Lyon: not for a moment are we reminded that this district was almost wiped out by Louis Pradel, the mayor whose name this panel has just mentioned, and was only saved thanks to the efforts of heritage conservationists and the creation of France’s first protected area. Today, Vieux-Lyon is a World Heritage Site.
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- 12. Room 4 of the Musée Gadagne
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
The last room (ill. 12) is just as devoid of works as the others, with the exception of the beautiful 16th-century fireplace, which is hardly highlighted, behind a large photo of the city and an "interactive model of the city of Lyon" "of generous dimensions (sic)". In the next few days, we’ll be continuing our desolate tour of the Musée Gadagne, by moving up to the next level. And there’s more to come...