11 July to 31 december 2020
The exhibition Pandora’s Box opened on 15th February but due to the lockdown it was prematurely closed on 16th March. This contemporary cabinet of curiosities reopens its doors this summer inviting us to observe this famous mythological figure – whose well-known curiosity, often misunderstood, is regenerated here–, to investigate little known chapters in the history of Arles and the museum and discover collections that are unusual for an institution devoted to fine arts – stuffed animals, old plaster casts, liturgical furnishings, etc. –,displayed alongside the contemporary works of art inspired by it.
The presentation offers a range of different worlds: ‘the cabinet of Pandora’s Box’ conjures up the museum’s reserve collection (the ultimate confined area) and the mystery that certain objects harbour; ‘the cabinet of casts’ reminds us of the days of schools for illustration in Arles; ‘the large cabinet’ exhibits, among naturalia and artificialia, relics from the natural history museum and the former Arles Hospital; ‘treasure’, in the Chapel of St. John, conveys the history of churches and chapels in Arles.
This summer, a large cabinet exclusively devoted to photography has been added to the mix in order to ensure that this art takes up permanent residence in the town, while reaffirming the role that the museum played in the fate of Arles, in terms of photography, prior to the appearance of the Rencontres d'Arles festival and opening of the école Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie.
A theme emerged from the outset: Arles. World capital of photography, with its sun-kissed stone and incomparable light, Arles lends itself brilliantly to photography and is particularly glorified in the black and white silver-gelatin emulsions...The city has been the subject of photography commissions since the 19th century and is therefore continually reinvented through the eye of the photographers who have flocked there since the photographic art department of the Musée Réattu was created in 1965, followed by the Rencontres festival in 1970.
Whether they are interested in the amphitheatre or cryptoporticuses, the church of St.Trophime or Alyscamps, the Camargue marshes or the lively and bustling streets in the old city centre, Montmajour Abbey or the Salin-de-Giraud salt pans, photographers find a voice in Arles for the wide variety of their approaches – between reportage and abstraction, objective or imaginary perspective – , viewed through over a hundred or so images.
In the permanent collections, photography weaves its way from room to room between the paintings, drawings and sculptures to develop innovative dialogue around subjects drawn from works by Jacques Réattu, Pablo Picasso, César, Arman and Pierre Alechinsky. A free and fun way of bringing to fruition the pledge that Jean-Maurice Rouquette and Lucien Clergue made by founding the museum’s photography department: to propel photography to the ranks of fine art by promoting diversity between all forms of artistic creation, from the most traditional to the most contemporary.
This exhibition received support from Galerie Éric Mouchet (Paris) and Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire (Paris), as well as the photographer and visual artist François Burgun.
