With the exhibition ranging of plastic waste on the aquitaine coast specimens of extinct species such as the wolf of Tasmania, the Museum of natural history of Bordeaux reopens Sunday after ten years of work, asking a question has become more pressing: “What is man in Nature?” After a renovation that doubled to an extension, the Museum of natural history, now “Museum of Bordeaux”, in a mansion of the Eighteenth century, on 2.300 m2 of space devoted to the public, more than 4,000 specimens at all times (the museum into account 1,010 million), next exhibitions, semi-permanent and temporary, have explained its officials Thursday in front of the press.
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The natural history Museum of Bordeaux will try to deal with the decline of “Nature seen by men.” Frederic Deval
founded in 1791, the Museum of natural history in Bordeaux is one of the largest in France in terms of collections, enriched in particular by the inflow of shipments and / or fleet business throughout the Nineteenth century, when Bordeaux was a port of international trade major. Before its closure in 2008, “nothing had changed in the museum is extremely dense, type-Nineteenth century, reflecting the purpose of natural history museums then: a comprehensive inventory of nature”, has summed up the conservative Nathalie Memory in front of the press on Thursday.
If it still has large display windows, typical of the late Nineteenth century, the Museum deals with the decline of “Nature seen by men”, whether of the evolution of classifications of the living since two centuries, the evolution of techniques of naturalization, or of the exploitation of nature. For example, elephant tusks are carved into a work of art, derived from seizures of Customs on traffic.
the digital age
But a Museum in the Twenty-first century must do more: “Give to think about the biodiversity and its conservation. It was a heritage that could not be made today, extinct or extremely threatened, and therefore to the mission of conservation is in addition to a pedagogical mission that is enhanced with a renewed interest of the public” in recent years for the conservation of nature and biodiversity.
to carry out this awareness-raising project, the Museum, which has 60,000 to 80,000 visitors a year will bet on interactivity, multimedia, and playfulness. The nice part will be given to the touch, the presence of mediators, scientists engaging the public, or even a space for “all babies”, where children under six years old can be compared to animal babies, feeling “man cave” included.
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At the end of this project of 16 million euros, the Museum was originally scheduled to reopen last November, but was postponed to this date after having been partially flooded at the end of may by severe weather.
