Doin the class thing, had to head out the cité national de l’immigration at the palais de la porte doree. Its a pretty ironic place to have an exhibit dedicated to immigration in the same place that was originally built for the 1931 colonial expo, an expo that featured “peoples of the world” on display. Yes, more like a human zoo. so now, despite the awful pictures on the outside of the building of the “ways in which the colonies give to France” (which was exclusively represented as material goods) and the inside salon des fetes representing the “ways in which the French give back” (by instilling virtues such as peace, science, and art, cause their was none of that in africa.) either way it was pretty weird. The website said that it was a logical place for the exhibit, attempting to draw a connection between immigration and colonies and i suppose the appeal for France within Europe that was created by the original Expo. The upstairs exhibit was a little over put together and scattered at the same time. If your ever in Paris you should stop by and then lend me your thoughts. Anyways, i wrote a lil thing for class abt my observations so i figured id throw it up see wat ppl thought. But again, the cute girls made the museum that much better..
And to make matters worse, my american professor tried to tell me i was being too biased in my essay… so im being racist by not liking the inconsistency of representation btw the races….
Give and Take?
The Cité Nationale de l’Histoire de l’Immigration opened in 2007 with the goal of being a major element in the social and republican cohesion of France, by not only highlighting the importance of immigrants to the history of the country but also using France’s global influence, via the colonies, as its base . The latter portion of the museum’s mission makes the site a perfect fit. The museum sits inside what is currently referred to as the Palais de la Porte Dorée, the same Palais that hosted the 1931 Colonial Exposition. The architecture of the Palais, as expected, was designed entirely to highlight and compliment the goals of the original Expo and, in turn, makes for an interesting interaction with the current exhibit.
For the French, the Colonial Exposition was designed to highlight the power of the French Empire, while also portraying the utility of the colonies to the French people. The immense and intricate bas-relief that spans across the entire front of the Palais de la Porte Dorée encapsulates this goal. The 1100 m.m that the bas-relief covers were designed by Alfred Janniot to present a scene depicting the ways in which the colonies brought riches, through goods and otherwise, back to the French people back home. Janniot created his bas-relief in a way in which the different peoples represented are all working to send riches back to France, which finds itself in the middle of the tableau, near the main door to the Palais. The far left of the building features a large elephant, and, moving towards the center, Africans carrying bundles of goods and loading them onto colonial boats. On the far right, Janniot placed more animals, and then Asians, harvesting, carrying bags of goods, and loading those onto colonial boats. Janniot shows the ways in which the people of the colonies worked with the French to bring the goods from the colonies to the homeland. Centered in the bas-relief are bigger cities, in clear juxtapostion to the savagery of the outer portions of the scene. There, ladies, clad in clothes lounging are representative of the more advanced cultures that could potentially lend technology to France.
Inside the Palais de la Porte Dorée lies a mural that spans 600 m.m and covers the entire main hall, the “salle des fêtes”. This fresco was realized by Pierre-Henri Ducos de la Haille, and portrays the reciprocal action of the bas-relief, representing the intellectual and moral influence that the Republique had on the colonies. Ducos de la Haille encapsulates the notion of the “Mission Civilisatrice”, which was the idea that France had a positive influence on its colonies by providing a civilizing force, through education and the French language, that would enable to colonizes to one day become a part of French society. The walls of the room are filling with depictions of natives in their native environments, living and doing as they would normally be, juxtaposed with depictions of French women in different garbs surrounded by banners, indicating each woman’s category: Paix (peace), Justice (justice), etc. The salle des fêtes was transformed into a means of propagating the way in which the French, through the “mission civilatrice” could move these “savages” from their primitive lives to be able to live amongst the civilized Europeans. Through these various virtues, savages could be turned into people.
Despite the seemingly positive nature of both the bas-relief, and the mural, each does not fail to provide vast visual distinctions between the French and the “others”. The “Africans” on the outside of the Palais have exaggerated muscles, jagged facial features and lips the size of bananas, that never seem to be fully closed, giving them an ape-like characteristic that does not fail to highlight the lack of intelligence perceived in these people. They are all looking in haphazard directions, sometimes with their necks turned in the complete opposite direction of their bodies, while they climb and grapple in a low to the ground stance, as if they walked nearly on all-fours. The “Asians”, on the other hand, all sport coolie hats and have nearly closed eyes; not one has an upward gaze, unable to look anywhere but down, subservient and docile. Inside, Pierre-Henri Ducos de la Haille’s descriptions are even more grotesque and disgusting. His “Africans” have skin the color of charcoal, are bowlegged and have heads more akin to a mango then any human skull. They are all naked, either carrying things on the “flat” top of their heads or feeding their babies, contrasting with the white missionaries with their saintly beards and white robes. The “Asians”, again, wear coolie hats, sport shorts and are completely phenotypically stereotypical. A nun bandages a child with her father, both having foreheads so big that they seem to have a birth defect. The white women, who embody the “mission civilatrice” stand in triumphant poses, well fed and noble-looking. While the Expo was supposed to highlight the interaction between
“us” and “them”, never was it meant to show any similarity or equality between the two, especially concerning intellectual capacity.
The Palais de la Porte Dorée was truly created with the stage of the Colonial Exposition in mind. The Palais, from outside to in, provides a look into the primary objectives of the Expo itself. On one level, the information on how the colonies provide useful goods and wealth to France shines immaculately and on another, the way in which the French can tame the savages and turn them into humans speaks loudly. Despite this “positive” give and take, the savagery of the others never fails to show itself. Within the Colonial model, there was never room for the intelligence of the colonies or space for any desire to maintain their “primitive” cultural tendencies. All in all, the Palais was a great success and provides an optimal stage for the propaganda that the French government wanted to feed its people and the world.
I did find my house though…
