General Information

Musée du quai Branly (MQB) is a Parisian museum presenting the art and culture of the indigenous civilizations from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. It’s located close to the Eiffel Tower, in Quai Branly, after which the museum has been named. The permanent collection contains over 250,000 exhibits, but only 1.5% of them are displayed.

Additional Information

MQB gathered the collection of the Musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, closed at the beginning of the current century, and the ethnographic set of the Musée de l’Homme. But the museum doesn’t only take the objects from other repositories. A part of its permanent collection is exhibited in the Louvre museum.
Musée du quai Branly also has a library with 3 main departments:
-Book collection with 2 reading rooms (research reading room at the top floor and a popular reading room at the ground floor)
-Picture collection (photographs and drawings)
-Archive collection
The library gathered a number of works by the most important ethnologists in history.
Tickets are available at the ticket office as well as online. Bookings via telephone. The building hosts a restaurant at the top floor.

Architecture: Highlights

The curved site of the museum, on the edge of the Quai Branly and the Seine, is situated 100 metres from the Eiffel Tower. The building was designed by architect Jean Nouvel. The museum’s front side is made of tall glass panels aimed at giving the building’s interior the light. It divides quiet, calm garden inside from loud and crowded street.

Architecture: Explained

The ‘green wall’ (200 by 12 metres of greenery) on a part of the museum’s exterior was designed and planted by Gilles Clément and Patrick Blanc. At the time of its installation this was quite healthy and vibrant; in winter however, the direct exposure of the plants to north winds blowing over the open area of the Seine river causes regular frost damage, even though the support system for the plants’ roots, irrigation and drainage has proved to be perfectly adequate on the less exposed east facade of the building and in other Parisian spots where it’s used.

Controversies: highlights

MBQ is often criticised for its activities concerning the collection. Experts say that exhibits are chosen to be presented because of their visual appeal and theatrics, without their explanation and context. The museum also stirred up controversies over the heads of Maori warriors. The case is about art trafficking and desecration of human remains.

Controversies: explained

French bioethics law states that a body part must be returned to its place of origin. In 1992, the national museum of New Zealand has requested the return of Maori remains held around the world and which were a result of international artefact trafficking. However, the director of the Quai Branly museum has refused to return four Maori heads gathered there to the New Zealand tribes for proper burial, stating that they are stored in a special area, and will not be put on public display. The last part makes keeping the heads in the museum completely pointless as no one will ever see them.