Musee du Quai Branly: The Heart of Darkness in la Cite de la Lumiere

This article examines the French Musee du quai Branly (MDQB) as a cultural and rhetorical site that communicates a vision of French-ness, contrasted by a particular memory of Otherness. I argue that the materiality of MDQB that officially promotes "cultural dialogues" exoticizes the Other as inferior to the French and invites a colonial gaze on the majority of the cultures of the world. This then indirectly reaffirms and revitalizes French colonialism, and radicalizes dialogue between the French and Others. Having analyzed the museum's multifaceted materiality in three categories (politics of location, representation, and pedagogy), I explore cultural and political implications of this site of public memory, and locate it in the current politically-and culturally-turbulent climate of France and Europe.