Images d'arabe contemporain...(7/1)

Currently a photo exhibition is held in the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) at Place Mohammed V. As highlighted in the theme of the exhibition, the show depicts a contemporary view of the Arabs...To me, the exhibition is just so-so. In general, the photos of Arab we see from magazines or news are quite exotic and exaggerating, particularly when most of these images are shown to people in the "Western" world who do not necessarily have a clear mind of how the Arab is. The photos shown in the exhibition are rather ordinary. There is a sensation of the normal quiet life in the photos, but it would be a bit too ordinary to me if it aims at displaying people's daily life there. The photos are gathered from a number of countries including Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Irak and Palestian. There is not much a thematic cohesion about the exhibits, and they appear to me a bit lack of unity as a whole, though there are some nice images in the salle.


I visited also the Musee in IMA, and I would say the collection is not very affluent. I have a stereotyped impression that collecting artworks and historic items from Arab would be difficult for the museum. All in all, the most astonishing thing for me is the building of the IMA itself. Again, it's François Mitterrand who brought the Parisians a museum for the Arabic world. The facade of the IMA is nicely designed and built, and this is something I like Paris a lot, a sense of co-existence. Like other museums in Paris, the bookshop and the "souvenir" shop (i call it souvenir though I would think the concept of "Friendship Store" in China could better describe the shop) of IMA are well-equipped.



p.s. In this week of tribute to François Mitterrand, the IMA becomes one of the ten spots in Paris city to worship the former president of the Republic. Critics about the numerous "grand" projects François Mitterrand carried out during his era are always quoted, and perhaps this is also a time to review his achievement to the landscape of the city.
see what he said...

- Je crois que l’on peut se réjouir de la qualité esthétique de cet Institut sous ses deux faces, l’une qui donne sur la Seine, et l’autre qui communique avec la ville et qui débouchera sur toute une série de jardins et de monuments qui appartiennent à la plus ancienne histoire de Paris.

- Face à ce paysage admirable, nos amis arabes, les visiteurs de tous pays et de toutes cultures, qui viendront ici, sauront qu’ils sont reçus par le monde arabe et par la France, et par Paris qui leur réserve ses splendeurs.

- Il fallait vouloir servir la relation, plusieurs fois séculaire, qui unit les pays arabes, le monde arabe et la France. Il fallait aussi vouloir servir la culture qui trouve ici, après tant d’autres, un lieu de mise en valeur et d’échanges.