aixcentric

It’s  most unusual for one person to  have 5 exhibitions in 5 different Marseille museums simultaneously, but then Sophie Calle is an unusual person.  She’s a French writer, film-maker and photographer, who has exhibited world-wide and has represented France at the Venice Biennale.

Marseille has given her access to the Musée des Beaux Arts, the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, Musée Grobet-Labadie, La Chapelle de la Vieille Charité and Chateau Borely.  Her response to each venue forms the basis of each show – they aren’t exhibitions in the conventional sense, but hidden texts (search amongst cabinets of fossils in the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle), embroidered curtains hiding photos (Musée des Beaux Arts) or objects relating to stories from her own life (Musée Grobet-Labadie).

Some are quite funny, others thought-provoking, some bewildering….see what you make of it! There’s no correct order for doing these shows – we did the first three on my list as they are clustered together, not far from the Cinq Avenues metro station.  In fact it proved to be a fun opportunity to visit these three museums – loved all the stuffed animals in the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, and it’s always a pleasure to see the sparkling waters cascading at the Palais Longchamp.

But a high spot was visiting the Musée Grobet-Labadie which has been closed for years and has opened specially for this event.  It was the mansion of a seriously rich Marseillais businessman whose wife dedicated herself to decorating her lair. I was told whilst there that it will close again at the end of the exhibition and not reopen until 2020; but have also read that it will stay open with renovations going on, room-by-room.  Maybe worth visiting now while the going is good?

You can buy one ticket for all five shows, 12€ or 8€ for seniors. Open daily exc. Monday.  Free entry Sunday 3 Feb!

More about the shows and related events; https://www.sortiramarseille.fr/agenda/sophie-calle-cinq/

Much more about Sophie Calle here and well worth a read before going: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Calle

Lunch tips in next post…….