Discovering the exhibition from port to port
This afternoon, I discovered the new exhibition at the Musée Regards de Provence, which runs this winter until next spring: “Marseille de port en ports”. Here’s a live report on the exhibition presentation by Bernard Muntaner, co-curator and guide for the occasion.
The works of some sixty artists allow us to admire a not-so-distant past and a rather near present. Visitors are taken on a stroll through all the ports of Marseille, from the large commercial port to the Old Port and the smaller, more intimate ports.
A short lesson in terminology
The origin of the word, which comes from the Latin “portus”, means passage. A port is a place of welcome, where people arrive, then depart, for a wide variety of destinations. Let’s compare it to a museum, which is also a place of welcome, from which you leave having discovered something new.
The comparison game
Throughout the visit, I’m invited to pay close attention to detail, to play the game of seven errors, and to compare the works between what once existed and what no longer exists. It’s a meticulous back-and-forth between the differences and continuities between two places, for the keen observer. Where possible, the exhibition combines paintings and photos that show the same space from the same point of view, but from very different periods.
