Four years may seem like a long time but when you’re renovating a museum, everything is relative. Even though initially the plan was to only adapt the [mac] Musée d’Art Contemporain de Marseille to meet the modern standards to which all museums in France should answer, that project evolved over the span of the renovation works. The discovery of asbestos, the bankruptcy of a construction company and the addition of a new entry hall caused serious delays to the 5 million euro project but since April 7th, the renewed museum is back to business, better than ever.
Thanks to Maxime Repaux and Frédéric Roustan, architects associated with the Bureau Architecture Méditerranée, visitors get a whole new experience than before when entering the museum. As it is twice as high as before, there are new possibilities when it comes to showing big pieces of art, pieces that before couldn’t be hosted in the [mac] Musée d’Art Contemporain de Marseille. And above the entry hall, the rooftop terrace spanning over 300 square meters allows for all kinds of events, giving visitors unseen sights over the Parc Central de Bonneveine.
Within the original modernist museum structure, at first sight, little has changed. However, the innovations all took place behind the scenes. The air-condition has been updated, the energy efficiency of the building has improved drastically and the lighting has changed as well. Thanks to automatic blinds on the rooftop windows, the natural light can be controlled and fully complemented with artificial lighting wherever necessary.
As its reopening exhibition, the [mac] Musée d’Art Contemporain de Marseille chose ‘Parade’. The show combines contemporary pieces from museums all over Marseille with works from artists like Yves Klein and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Some emerging artists have been given a chance to figure in the exhibition as well, giving them a unique chance to shine alongside some of art history’s biggest names. A temporary exhibition by Italian artist Paola Pivi, titled ‘It’s not my job, it’s your job’ compliments the collection. If you’re not acquainted with her works just yet, you’ll quickly learn to recognise it by her use of poppy colours and feathers, doing great on your Instagram feed.
Even though the opening night was without a doubt meant to be a festive occasion, protestors against Macron gladly made use of the gathered crowd to express their dissatisfaction with his pension reform and his politics in general.
