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Archive/Collection

Christophe Gallois | Curateur, Responsable des Expositions

Theme: Archive/Collection
Title of the book: Le Goût de l’archive
Author's name: Arlette Farge
Publisher: Edition du Seuil

Introduction :

This short essay describes Arlette Farge's very personal relationship with the archives that constitute the raw material of her work as a historian: the 18th century police archives. These "traces of raw life", often from the most humble of lives, allow her, as she puts it, to "touch reality". Published in 1989, at the beginning of her career, Le Goût de l'archive can be seen as a manifesto for her future work. Indeed, it is from these same archives that she will write most of her later books, devoted to subjects such as the voice, the street, women or suffering in the 18th century.

Theme: Archive/Collection
Title of the book: 10 Madnesses
Autor's name: Fiona Tan
Publisher: Roma Publications

Introduction :

Fiona Tan, who had a solo exhibition at Mudam in 2016, wrote this singular little book, which falls somewhere between an artist's book and an essay, during a residency at the Getty Research Institute. It recounts a fascinating investigation she conducted on a group of paintings by Géricault, Les Monomanes (1819-1821). Very little information remains about these ten portraits of anonymous interned persons, of which only five have been preserved. Written in first person, Fiona Tan's account questions the context in which these singular works were commissioned, what they say about their time, and their fate.

Theme: Archive/Collection
Title of the book: L’Ineffacé
Author's name: Jean-Christophe Bailly
Publisher: Éditions de l’IMEC

Introduction :

L'Ineffacé is the catalogue of an exhibition designed by the writer Jean-Christophe Bailly based on the collections of the IMEC in Normandy. It brings together "drafts", "fragments", "flares" – to use the three words that make up its subtitle – from writers and creators as varied as Erik Satie, Marguerite Duras, Hervé Guibert, Jean Genet, Merce Cunningham and Bernard-Marie Koltès. Over the course of the pages, Jean-Christophe Bailly sketches out a thought on the processes involved in the elaboration of a work, whether literary, theatrical, musical or visual. What does the archive tell us?, he asks.

Markus Pilgram | Conseiller Scientifique

Title : Werner Herzog, Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) – Film
Director : Werner Herzog and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado

Introduction:

Today's times, which are sometimes a little long, give us the opportunity to see and watch films about art again. In 2010, the indefatigable Werner Herzog entered the underground of art by discovering the Chauvet cave in Ardèche, showing us breathtaking paintings that are 30,000 years old. Knowing the Mudam collection, I say to myself – very impressed – that according to Maurizio Nanucci "All Art Has Been Contemporary".

Title : Salt of the Earth (2014) – Film
Director : Wim Wenders
Producers : Wim Wenders, Lélia Wanick Salgado, David Rosier, Julia de Abreu, Fakhrya Fakhry, Andrea Gambetta, Christine Ponelle

Introduction:

Another German director, Wim Wenders has shown me in his film Salt of the Earth (2014) about the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado in breathtakingly beautiful images the hard and poor world of real misery.

Charlotte Masse | Régisseur de la Collection

Theme: Archive/Collection
Title of the book: Les collections photographiques, Guide de conservation préventive
Author's name: Bertrand Lavédrine, avec la collaboration de Jean-Paul Gandolfo et de Sibylle Monod
Publisher: ARSAG (Paris, 2000)

Introduction :

For years, scientific research on the conservation of this medium has continued to develop in order to better identify the supports and techniques used to ensure its durability. The sources are numerous, the information complex and sometimes contradictory. Currently working on the enrichment of our data in relation to conservation standards, it seemed important to me to go back to this key work on photography.

Theme: Archive/Collection
Title of the book: Henri Cartier-Bresson
Author's name: Clément Cheroux
Publisher: Editions du Centre Pompidou (Paris, 2013)

Introduction :

This book has been in my library for a few years, but it had never been opened until last month. It was the programming of the upcoming Luxembourg Street Photography Festival that made me want to browse through this monograph published by the Centre Pompidou. Who doesn't know Cartier-Bresson? However, this book offers a complete (re)reading of his work that will seduce all photography lovers.

Theme: Archive/Collection
Title: Julian Schnabel, A Private Portrait (Film, documentaire)
Director: Pappi Corsicato
Distribution: Julian Schnabel

Introduction :

Being a registrar means above all to approach the works of art under their logistic and conservatory aspects for their storage and display. Mastering the historical and scientific aspect of their production is not immediate and requires time to allocate to research. Julian Schnabel is one of the artists in our collection, so it seemed appropriate to me to acquire a better knowledge of his work through this documentary.