You may be interested in the new space that opened in Fort Saint-Jean in July. It’s called the Galerie des Officiers, the arcaded section you can see in the photo.  Each of 5 small rooms has a short film on an aspect of the history of Fort Saint-Jean, with it a …

By Aixcentric: Most museums have massive amounts of ‘stuff’ filed, heaped, mounded away in archives, basements and warehouses. The question is: what do they do with it all? It really is an issue. Marseille’s MuCEM inherited the contents of the Musée National des Arts et Traditions Populaires in Paris and now …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Ai Weiwei and Marseille This is a highly political show – highly personal too. Much is about the artist’s relationship with his father (Ai Qing) whose ship from Shanghai back in 1929 docked right next to where MuCEM is today. Indeed it was France that inspired …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Just announced, an exhibition of the work of Ai Weiwei, opening at MuCEM on June 20th in Marseille. Having seen his show at the Royal Academy in London last year, I expect it will be stimulating and baffling…but unmissable.  According to MuCEM, they will be adding …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: MuCEM re-opens with its expo Picasso, Un Genie Sans Piedestal: Picasso et les Arts et Traditions Populaires’ which is well worth a visit. Presented with the support of the Musee Picasso-Paris, along with other international loans, the show has 270 works …Continue reading here for details and …

It is too bad that some visitors shy away from France’s second biggest port, scared off by Marseille’s somewhat edgy reputation. In the past, they might have been right, but now it would be a crying shame to miss the museums and the shopping in Marseille. When you go this …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: This really is one of MuCEM’s more esoteric offerings which we found a little baffling. The first few rooms are devoted to how the country was mapped, and some of the beautifully precise work by various draughtsmen. The commentary (English panels as well as French) explains …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: MUCEM seems to specialise in quirky off-beat subjects for its exhibitions. ‘J’Aime Les Panoramas’ is a case in point. It starts with this remark made by Jean Dujardin in a film (see photo of scene) and then walks us through the history of panoramic painting …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Practically everyone you talk to thinks that MuCEM is a thrilling building, in a wonderful site on the Mediterranean, brilliantly linked to Fort St Jean and the Panier; but how is it doing? Is it attracting visitors in sufficient numbers now that the hullabulloo of …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: …some interesting exhibitions are listed for the coming months – and indeed the next few years. The current show ‘Migrations Divines’ is on until November 16th. It focuses on 3 centres of civilisation around the Mediterranean – Egypt, Greece and Rome – and looks at …