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Here we would like to detail very concretely the way
in which the Fresnes Ecomuseum is trying to implement
this dimension, a dimension that is so often spoken
about but so difficult to embody.
Since its creation in 1978 the Fresnes Ecomuseum in
a suburb south of Paris has set itself the goal of
mirroring a contemporary urban society, reflecting
with the local population about its own future, as
well communicating through its the collective memory.
A whole aspect of the activity, particularly since
1990, has consisted in working on subjects that concern
the population of Fresnes, taking care to involve
it in a concrete way in all phases of the ecomuseum's
work, from collection to display.
Several exhibitions have illustrated the ecomuseum's
key principles. As the town of Fresnes has the largest
prison in France, a large percentage of the population
depends on this particular establishment. The ecomuseum
set up an exhibition called "Fresnes, la prison",
focusing on the prison's history and current situation.
Notably, it enabled the prison staff to express the
difficulty they had in carrying out their job. The
initiative resulted in collaboration between Fresnes
town and the prison administration in organising events
to mark the prison's centenary. Through exhibitions
such as "Rassemblance", which dealt with immigration,
members of the immigrant population of Fresnes provided
information and also illustrated their heritage when
asked to be photographed in their home surroundings.
The participation of the local population is also
apparent in such museum activities as collating and
preparing exhibitions. For instance, for the exhibition
"En temps de femmes", which proposed a photographic
journey on the theme of women, the texts for the exhibition
were written by locals attending writing workshops.
In another example, during the "Peupleraie" ("Poplar
Grove") exhibition, which focused on action by future
owners who were going to build their own collective
housing, the inhabitants concerned helped decide on
the content of the exhibition. They put forward themes
to be developed, and they also took part in mounting
the exhibition.
A programme for putting together collections that
would be representative of life in Fresnes from the
town's creation to the present day was carried out
during the months of November and December 2000. The
inhabitants themselves brought along the objects and
documents that would serve to build up the local heritage
for future generations. They also filled in notes
for the inventory with the ecomuseum team. In so doing
they took on tasks that are usually assigned to scientific
personnel, such as collecting and documenting.
In the same spirit, every year the workshop on the
Imaginary, which was set up in 1986, enables primary
or secondary school pupils to compile a list of items
to represent a theme chosen by the ecomuseum, such
as shops, buildings or the family. The children then
analyse the situation with a view to producing sculptures
and models that will be exhibited at the end of the
year. This course, which is run by a visual artist
in a series of 20 to 25 sessions lasting two to three
hours, favours an in-depth approach to the work. By
keeping 14 years' work by children from different
sociological backgrounds the museum can build up a
collection that is not only representative of the
heritage of Fresnes but also includes representations
of what a particular age group makes of this heritage
over time. Between 1982 and 1984 Hugues de Varine
(former Director of ICOM) wrote: "The strategy of
public authority systems, even democratic ones, will
be to divide community and action and to bestow on
the first a formal and bureaucratic nature (...), while
for the second the roles are truly separate: it is
up to the established authority to make decisions,
and to the population to carry them out. This is why
we must now speak out, stating clearly that there
is another way, that endogenous, self-managed community
development is not a Utopia, but a possibility that
has already become reality in some places. Public
authorities (...), if they really wanted to, would have
the ability to favour this (...)" (see Hugues de Varine,
L'initiative communautaire, recherche et expérimentations,
1991). In spite of the difficulty in implementing
its aim, the Fresnes Ecomuseum is modestly attempting
to transform the local population into active players.
It gets them involved at all levels, defining, presenting
and bringing their heritage live.
Ecomusée
de Fresnes
41, rue Maurice Ténine, 94260 Fresnes, France.
Tel. (33 1) 4984 5737.
Email : ecomusee@fresnes-94.com
Articles
around the theme:
 EXCHANGE
- Key
to memory
INNOVATION
- Cyberspace
Communities: MUVA, the Virtual Museum Of Arts El País
DEVELOPEMENT
- A
model community museum in a village in the High Atlas
INTEGRATION
- Celebrating
Australia's multicultural history
PARTICIPATION
- A
community regulates its own heritage
Articles
published in: "ICOM News", Volume 54 - 2001
N°1
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