Since the end of last year, we have made several attempts to find out more about the ’scientific and cultural project’ of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Valenciennes, a short version of which is online here. As we were unable to get a response from the museum, we called them to find out about the detailed SCP. We were told that we had to make do with the summary. So that’s what we did.
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- 1. The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Valenciennes, main façade
Photo: Szilas (CC BY-SA 4.0) - See the image in its page
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- 2. The glass roofs of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Valenciennes
Photo: T. Douvry/City of Valenciennes - See the image in its page
The building (ill. 1), in fact, is being renovated. That it is in poor condition and in need of restoration, particularly the glass roofs (ill. 2), seems to us neither debatable nor open to criticism. For this reason, we had not expressed any further concern about this project. But clearly, if the project is anything to go by, it goes far beyond refurbishing the building: The aim is no longer to present its collections in the best possible way, but to create a "crossroads museum", "a living museum" "that (re)turns towards the liveliness of art in the making" (sic), a "plural museum", and finally an "open museum" (because everyone knows that before it closed, the Valenciennes museum was already a closed museum...).
In short, all the emptiness of the contemporary discourse around museums promises to bring Valenciennes in through the front door (or rather, through the back door, as the entrance will now be through the other side of the building), as a closer look at this "scientific and cultural" project, which has very little to do with science or culture, can demonstrate.
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- 3. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Valenciennes, rear façade, future entrance
Photo: Pierre André (CC BY-SA 4.0) - See the image in its page
First of all, the "Musée des Beaux-Arts (Fine Arts)" will no longer be called that. "When men cannot change things, they change words" said Jaurès. From now on, we’ll be changing words, but all the better to change things afterwards. What a big word "fine arts" is for a museum! Perhaps it’s easier to understand why the entrance will be at the back of the building: on the front (ill. 1), the pediment reads "Musée des Beaux-Arts" (how awful!), but on the other side (ill. 3) it doesn’t!
Nor can this museum, which will no longer be called the "Musée des Beaux-Arts", be reduced to a "place of conservation". It is also a "place to live" (it was already a living museum, but there is never enough life in a museum), a "place to meet", a "place for exchange and leisure". The museum will therefore have to be given a new name "which will convey these ideas of a museum-place of life, a committed museum, open to all and to the world, with plural and living collections". We’re in danger of quickly running out of "sic".
Secondly, when talking to the general public, there’s no question of trying to educate them so that they enjoy coming to the museum. Certainly not. What we need to do is "respond to their expectations, desires and needs". And these "expectations", these "desires", these "needs" are clearly not to see works of art in the best possible conditions! To hell with the museum, we’re going to have to adapt and become a "place of sound and festivity rather than silence and solemnity". The "desire for rest and comfort" must be "considered as essential and legitimate as the thirst for learning and the pleasure of contemplation".
If it were just a question of installing comfortable seats in the galleries so that we could contemplate the works, we would applaud it, as we did recently at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen (see article). But we’re talking about a lot of other things here: "space for relaxation" and "space for free expression". The works of arts are no longer at the heart of the project. The aim is to "make the museum a place of curiosity and tolerance, a museum-laboratory (sic)".
And here comes one of the essential points of the project, which we have to call by its name: wokism (to tell the truth, we felt it was coming). What do we read in this ’scientific’ and ’cultural’ project? That "the museum is convinced that the works and artists of the past are relevant today and have something to say to us about contemporary social issues. Gender, sexuality, health, work, the economy, the environment and migration are all themes that can be addressed through the prism of the works in order to open up debate".
The rest is as good as it gets, as you might expect. The words no longer have any meaning, or rather they have too much. So it is that the "Musée de Valenciennes wishes to claim a multidisciplinary approach, which ’mixes genres’ to better open up to the plurality of its collections" and that "the museum is a place where each person [...] can enter into emotion (sic) with [the works]".
But what is the objective? It is: "to encourage a playful and uninhibited approach to our heritage, one that legitimises any way of entering into the works and making them our own". To achieve this, the museum "wants to use a wide range of mediation tools to offer a different, offbeat visitor experience, where art is not just for the intellect, but for all five senses! Digital immersion, soundscapes, the archaeology of taste, a material library, a tactile gallery, costumes and disguises are all experiences to be invented as part of the visit". The Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp (see article) had better watch out, it could well have found its master here.
And there’s more to come. To "involve the public in a more active way", "be interactive", "participatory exhibitions, a wall of free expression, carte blanche to take over the museum’s rooms, are just the first ideas for encouraging the participation of all sections of the public". And the other ideas "for visitors to [find]"! And what’s more - as we suspected - the museum will be "in an active eco-responsible approach". The last thing we needed was for it to become a polluting museum.
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- 4. The "Salon Carpeaux" in 2011
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 5. The « Salon Carpeaux » in 2011
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
The "scientific" and "cultural" project then gives us an idea of the interior of what will therefore become (we’ll summarise) a fun, participative and meeting place, with digital, sound and festive immersion, interested in gender and eco-responsible. Strangely enough, the term ’inclusive’ is never mentioned. That’s a shame.
The heart of the museum, i.e. the large room between the two wings, which until now has been content to display a remarkably large number of sculptures, notably by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (ill. 4 and 5), the local boy, will be "rethought as a place of life, an agora". There was already less (ill. 6 and 7), but this time there was no question of Carpeaux’s works, or very little. The aim here is to "rest, discuss, exchange ideas and also attend lectures, workshops and shows. Seating, tables and furniture for books and games will be provided. Part of the space will be dedicated to meditation and creation". One suspects that in these conditions, the number of sculptures will be very small, as it is hard to see how all this would be compatible with their conservation. It’s true that these plaster casts take up a lot of space!
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- 6. The « Salon Carpeaux » (2015)
Photo: Chatsam (CC BY-SA 3.0) - See the image in its page
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- 7. The « Salon Carpeaux » (2017)
Photo: Patrick (CC BY-SA 2.0) - See the image in its page
Next comes the description of the "visit itinerary of the permanent collections", which confirms that the "Place Carpeaux" is no longer included in this itinerary. But even the term itinerary seems disturbing, as it implies a notion of logic, of progression: "more than an itinerary, it’s a free visit with no set route, a stroll". Come on, let’s take a stroll around the museum. "Each room evokes a theme in a transchronological way, where all the artistic disciplines interact. Gone are the days of a purely classical organisation with, for example, one room reserved for 17th-century Flemish art (ill. 8) and another for 19th-century French painting (ill. 9). There is no longer any question of trying to instruct or educate visitors by showing them works of art and explaining what they mean, with the exception of a small portion under the dome by Lucien Jonas representing the great Valenciennes artists. A "small history of art" is shown here (because a big history of art would probably be too much) to give visitors "keys to reading". And they proudly insist: "it’s the only part of the tour that will be chronological". Chronology, the key to understanding, is the enemy.
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- 7. The 17th-century Flemish room (2017)
Photo: Chatsam (CC BY-SA 3.0) - See the image in its page
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- 8. The 19th century room (2017)
Photo: Chatsam (CC BY-SA 3.0) - See the image in its page
So you know pretty much everything about this shameful project, which has obviously been approved by the DRAC, in other words the Ministry of Culture. It’s not too late for them to seriously amend it, as work has only just begun.