Quai Branly Museum for children in Paris
The Quai Branly Museum, dedicated to the ancient African, American, Asian and Oceanian civilizations, has a clear ethnographic orientation and it has over 300,000 non-Western culture objects in its collection, objects that come from the fusion of the Musée de l´Homme and the National Museum for African and Oceanian Art.
Next to the undeniable interest of the exhibited items, the museum stands out for the elaboration of an attractive and complete activities programme that are aimed at children. That the inside of this extraordinary building proves attractive to kids perhaps shouldn´t shock us too much. However, a substantial part of the artistic avant-gardes from the early 20th century turned and paid special attention simultaneously to children´s art and the so-called primitive cultures, taking them as a model for a clean, fresh and conviction-free overview and way of expression, without style prejudices. Paradoxically this was more about ´unwalking´ than walking, less about learning than ´unlearning´, the path to follow to the future.
Aware of these affinities, those responsible for the museum pay special attention in the creation of events, visits and special activities for children with the aim to help them understand better the collection pieces and foment awareness of how enriching all of these cultural activities can be.
The activities of said programme take place on Wednesday afternoons, weekends and during school holidays, and they are also open to the children´s families (http://www.quaibranly.fr/en/musee/visitors/families-with-kids.html).
Among them, stimulating workshops stand out, which are highly seductive for the whole family. So, from here to February, it´s possible to participate in three different workshops that last for 90 minutes and that deal with the rain, secret objects and magical dolls, that are aimed to children in between the ages of 3 and 5. The first one deals with the importance of water, a basic good that´s sadly scarce in some parts of the world, and it works with the rituals, customs, dances and sounds linked to the different ways of propitiating rain and celebrating its arrival; the second one is an introduction to the world of talismans and the third one stimulates the participants to bring dolls to life through creating a series of oral stories and narrations. Precisely related to this last aspect, the museum also organizes storytelling sessions that allow them to acquaint themselves with stories that come from the represented cultures.
Another popular initiative is the elaboration of a special itinerary throughout the museum that´s filled with riddles in the shape of objects and animal prints that resolve themselves recreationally. There´s also the possibility to celebrate a birthday party in the museum, one of the many museum initiatives that is highly popular.
Paul Oilzum
Do something different and fun with the kids. This museum is as didactic as it´s entertaining, so find apartment accommodation in Paris and don´t hesitate to go with your children to the Musée du Quai Branly.
