Vilma Fuentes: Museum to taste

L

the multiple exhibitions The many things Paris has to offer can satisfy the most diverse audiences. Even a jaded visitor can find a display of objects or images that awakens their dormant curiosity. True, imagination must have limits, like everything else in this world, but the museums in the French capital extend their boundaries and challenge the imagination.

Not to mention the halls of the Louvre, a former royal palace, whose route is comparable to a marathon, where the spectator can contemplate the most diverse works of art in painting and sculpture, Paris has a range of classic museums, such as the Musée de l'Homme, home to ethnography; the Orangerie, where Monet's wonderful Water Lilies are exhibited; the Musée Rodin with its beautiful garden where sculptures seem to stroll, pulsating with life; Cluny for those passionate about the Middle Ages; the Musée des Invalides with the majestic tomb of Emperor Napoleon; the Musée d'Orsay, under whose glass vault its collections of Impressionist and Art Nouveau paintings can be admired in this former railway station; the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, dedicated to non-Western arts and cultures of Asia, America and Oceania; the Grand and Petit Palais with their permanent and temporary exhibitions; or the most recent of the classics, the Picasso Museum, near which is the Cultural Center of Mexico, a showcase for our country's current painting and sculpture in France.

Among the most visited current exhibitions in Paris are the following:

At the Palais Galliera, a fashion museum, an exhibition dedicated to Rick Owens is being presented, a highlight of Paris Fashion Week.

At the Grand Palais, three figures of 20th-century art share their revolutionary vision of the world: Niki de Saint Falle, Jean Tinguely, and Pontus Hulten.

Wolfgang Tillmans, also at the Grand Palais, was the first photographer to win the Turner Prize in 2000.

Matisse et Marguerite, le regard d'un père , at the Museum of Modern Art, enshrines the relationship between a father and his daughter.

The Fondation Vuitton presents a David Hockney exhibition, the season's artistic event featuring this star of contemporary art, the most famous painter currently working.

Agnès Varda's Paris , at the Carnavalet Museum, dedicated to this pioneer of the Nouvelle Vague , whose films toured the world from 1955.

At the Maillol Museum, an exhibition dedicated to Robert Doisneau, author of the world-famous Baiser de l'hôtel de Ville , undoubtedly the best-known French photographer with his collection of 450,000 negatives.

At the Museum of Man, there is a temporary exhibition on wax textiles, whose long history is emblematic of the African continent.

True, the list could go on, if not indefinitely, then to the point of losing track of it. But it would be interesting to ask about the choice of subjects or themes for the exhibitions. Why Hockney or Varda? Why not Diego Rivera or Saint Teresa?

It is evident that any selection will be arbitrary and can only reflect the inclinations of the time and country where the event takes place, as well as historical commemorations. It may also reflect a current doctrine, a policy, or a commercial campaign. The image of Diego may evoke Mexican culture and its indigenous roots; that of Saint Teresa may invoke ecstasy or incite religious reflection.

Thus, it is worth asking whether the choice of topic corresponds to the public interest of the moment or, on the contrary, whether public interest is manipulated and determined by that choice. A controversial topic, advertisers and marketers waste no time, or even money, when launching a commercial campaign to sell a new product, which is presented, suddenly and according to the propaganda, as the revelation of a deep desire. Each person's own.

[email protected]