Musée du quai Branly

The Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac is France's national museum of non-European art and, when it opened in 2006, became the newest of Paris's major museums. It stands in the 7th arrondissement on the Left Bank of the Seine, near the Eiffel Tower and the Pont de l'Alma. Designed by architect Jean Nouvel, the complex consists of four buildings on a two-hectare (about five-acre) site. The dominant main gallery is raised on stilts and spans a garden designed by Gilles Clément, whose small hills, paths, and 178 trees create an inviting atmosphere. A large glass wall shields the grounds from the noise of the adjacent street. Besides the main gallery, which also hosts temporary exhibitions, there is an administrative building with a striking plant wall, a building for university use, and an area for the media library.

The museum's collection combines holdings from the former Musée de l'Homme and the Musée national des arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie. With more than one million objects, including ethnological artifacts, documents, and audiovisual materials, it is one of the largest collections of its kind. Unlike many other European museums, which often organize their displays by ethnological criteria, the quai Branly emphasizes the artistic qualities of its exhibits. Around 3,500 works are on view in permanent and rotating thematic exhibitions. The museum sees itself not only as an exhibition venue but also as a research center. It has an extensive library and media library, where specialist literature and databases can be accessed on site or online. The Théâtre Claude Lévi-Strauss regularly hosts concerts, discussions, and film screenings that deepen the museum's themes.

The museum's history is closely tied to Jacques Chirac, who launched the project after being elected president of France. The art dealer Jacques Kerchache had originally tried to establish so-called "Arts premiers" at the Louvre, which ultimately led to the creation of a separate institution. The 2006 opening, however, was accompanied by controversy, as staff of the Musée de l'Homme protested the breakup of their collections. Today the museum is also at the center of an international debate over the restitution of African cultural property. Because of its holdings from sub-Saharan Africa, President Emmanuel Macron commissioned it to examine the provenance of its objects. Under the current director, Emmanuel Kasarhérou, the first items, including thrones and palace gates, were returned to Benin in 2021, marking an important step in reckoning with the colonial past.