Practically everyone you talk to thinks that MUCEM is a thrilling building, in a wonderful site on the Mediterranean, brilliantly linked to Fort St Jean and the Panier; but how is it doing? Is it attracting visitors in sufficient numbers now that the hullabulloo of the European Year of Culture has subsided?
It’s this man who has the answers, Jean-Francois Chougnet, appointed as its head a year ago.
In a recent Le Figaro interview, he maintained that the museum is a success. In 2013 there were 1.8 million visitors, with 2m last year and this year looking strong. He cites a programme of conferences and the splendid ‘Lieux Saints Partagés’ exhibition as strong attractions.
Recent surveys have shown that 50% of visitors are from Marseille or PACA, 35% other parts of France and 15% foreign. The challenge though is to attract these visitors into the exhibitions rather than just enjoying the building.
He also says that he wants to reach out to the inhabitants of the northern suburbs of the city – only 1 in 9 have visited MUCEM. His plan is to work on the esplanade area as a cultural centre, much as the Beaubourg in Paris functions as a focus for locals.
The permanent exhibition of items from Mediterranean cultures is in for a make-over, starting with the section on agriculture and then the sections on Jerusalem, citizenship and world-wide navigation.
It is a very different type of museum, with its toes in France but its lines of sight out across the sea to the surrounding countries. There are so many narratives common to these cultures and it is fascinating to see MUCEM developing and exploring these themes.
Traces: Fragments d’une tunisie contemporaine’ ends Sept 28th.
Read more about M. Chougnet here:http://www.lemonde.fr/arts/article/2014/09/11/jean-francois-chougnet-nouveau-patron-du-mucem_4485786_1655012.html
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