The National Museum of the History of Immigration in Paris is reopening its permanent exhibition, with a new focus on the long and dynamic history of people moving to and from France.
Located in the Palais de la Porte Dorée in the southeast of Paris, the museum was refurbished over a period of three years and now contains updated research as well as new “learning” spaces, according to the curators.
The head curator, Sébastien Gökalp, explained that while the previous exhibition was organised thematically around the migrants’ countries of origin, the new exhibition is chronological.
It is built around a dozen key dates in history, a choice he said came out of “a year of reflection” by curators.
Gökalp added that the exhibition was not intended to be political.
“We are not here to be advocating for or against immigration,” he explained, “but to collect important data and display it in order to nourish visitors with facts, events, knowledge and emotions, as the exhibition also displays stories of lives.”
The reopening comes as the French parliament prepares to discuss a new and controversial bill on immigration and asylum.
The new museum offers a historical narrative through archival documents, photographs, paintings, sculptures, posters and life stories, as well as contemporary artistic creations and digital tools.
The exhibition focuses on key dates between 1685 and the present day.
The year 1685, for example, is the date the “Code Noir” came into force – the decree passed by King Louis XIV of France to define the conditions of slavery in the French colonial empire.
The decree was a key tool in drafting French colonial rules based on race, as well as outlining the restrictions applicable to free people of colour. It also required all enslaved peoples throughout the empire to convert to Catholicism.
“Our conviction is that prejudices arise from a form of ignorance,” said the museum’s director, Constance Rivière. (RFI)