Musee du quai Branly

"The world's masterpieces are born free and equal." In 1990, President Jacques Chirac responded to this bold manifesto from the noted French collector Jacques Kerchache with the launch of an ambitious project to gather France's important national collections of tribal and ethic art under one roof. Today the extraordinarily building by Jean Nouvel houses some 300,000 objects, including 3,500 masterpieces from Africa, the Americas, Oceania and Asia. This book explores the genesis of the project, its five-year building program, and the ground-breaking architectural design for the new museum, from the core collection, displayed in a long, raised gallery following the natural arc of the river Seine, to its distinctive "Green Wall" and landscaped garden. The Musee du Quai Branly is a centre for discovery and learning, designed to encourage its visitors to look at art in new ways, and to respect societies and civilisations that have often been misunderstood.