Vista del Museo Quai Branly, en Paris

Paris inaugurates the Museum Quai Branly

Louvre, Orsay, Pompidou. and now Quai Branly. Paris has already his new megamuseum devoted to the Art from Africa, Oceania and the Americas, cultures not well represented in the museums of the French capital. And here comes the first polemical point, since the term “primitive” used to describe these cultures was considered offensive by many people.

The spectacular building firmed by Jean Nouvel has also received critics, not for its formal aspect (be spectacular is a “must” for any major museum of today) but for its high cost -€230 million- and for the delay in its construction.

But the main controversial point, however, is the excessive politic involvement of the Museum, almost projected as the “legacy” of Jacques Chirac, admirer of these cultures, and who has never denied that he considers “an honour” the fact that many people called the Quai “the Chirac Museum”.

Beyond these controversies, any initiative aimed to popularize the Art from these cultures, often “forgotten” in Europe -especially those from Africa and Oceania-, is positive. Personally, I have the strange and perhaps absurd idea that this kind of initiatives can be useful to stop the plundering in many African countries with a highly important cultural heritage, such as Benin or Nigeria.