Les musées sont des mondes

The Louvre Museum Editions Published on the occasion of the exhibition The Louvre Invites J. M. G. Le Clézio - The World Museum, Louvre Museum from November 5, 2011 to February 6, 2012. Reflecting the literary cartography of Le Clézio, the exhibition "The World Museum" proposes an unprecedented encounter between works of different cultures. Just as for Malraux, for Le Clézio, there is no "hierarchy in art". Thus starting from this premise, the exhibition brings together a diverse ensemble of works ranging from historical paintings, revolutionary engravings, Haitian paintings, Vanuatu mats, voodoo objects, Mexican ex-votos, works of an ethnographic nature from different civilizations and contemporary works, thus transcending temporal and geographical boundaries, to present art and craftsmanship, ancient art and living art, popular art and scholarly art on the same level. This "step aside" from the traditional perimeter of the museum, proposed by the writer, finds its origins in the history of the Louvre's collections. The opportunity is thus given to evoke the first Ethnographic Museum and that of the Americas, which were part of the Naval Museum, and whose collections now belong to the Quai Branly Museum. Directed by Marie-Laure Bernadac, the exhibition catalog presents an unpublished essay by J. M. G. Le Clézio, the Louvre's guest of honor in November 2011 on the theme: "Museums are worlds", and echoes this unusual narrative, through the contributions of specialists and art historians.