The National Museum of the History of Immigration in Paris is reopening its permanent exhibition, with a new focus on the long and dynamic history of people moving to and from France.
Located in the Palais de la Porte Dorée in the southeast of Paris, the museum was refurbished over a period of three years and now contains updated research as well as new "learning" spaces, according to the curators.
The head curator, Sébastien Gökalp, explained that while the previous exhibition was organised thematically around the migrants' countries of origin, the new exhibition is chronological.
It is built around a dozen key dates in history, a choice he said came out of "a year of reflection" by curators.
Gökalp added that the exhibition was not intended to be political.
"We are not here to be advocating for or against immigration," he explained, "but to collect important data and display it in order to nourish visitors with facts, events, knowledge and emotions, as the exhibition also displays stories of lives."
The reopening comes as the French parliament prepares to discuss a new and controversial bill on immigration and asylum.
The 'Code Noir'
The new museum offers a historical narrative through archival documents, photographs, paintings, sculptures, posters and life stories, as well as contemporary artistic creations and digital tools.
The exhibition focuses on key dates between 1685 and the present day.
The year 1685, for example, is the date the "Code Noir" came into force – the decree passed by King Louis XIV of France to define the conditions of slavery in the French colonial empire.
The decree was a key tool in drafting French colonial rules based on race, as well as outlining the restrictions applicable to free people of colour. It also required all enslaved peoples throughout the empire to convert to Catholicism.
“Our conviction is that prejudices arise from a form of ignorance,” said the museum's director, Constance Rivière.
New research
Camille Schmoll, scientific curator, geographer and director of studies at the French School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, EHESS, is in charge of the contemporary section from the 1990s to today.
She told RFI English that the curators also looked at the most recent insights from researchers and historians on the history of immigration in France.
Schmoll said that the new chronology shows how France became a country not only of immigration but of circulation, with people leaving France and others coming and later returning to their own country.
"The idea was to have a more dynamic approach to this history of migration," she explained.
The previous exhibition focused on the 19th century.
This one starts in the 1680s with the exile of French Protestants, known as Huguenots, and the transatlantic slave trade between Africa, Europe and the Americas.
The museum was officially inaugurated on Tuesday, 13 June, and reopened its permanent exhibition to the general public on Saturday, 17 June, with free events throughout the weekend, including music and readings.
There is an entire room dedicated to the musical heritage of migrations, with different playlists and a selection of songs related to the major themes explored in the exhibition.
Cinema is also strongly represented, with extracts from films that represent new migrants in France over the 20th century.
Some sections are also dedicated to portraits of workers, others to famous footballers.
The contemporary art pieces include films and installations by two of the most renowned French-Algerian creators, Kader Attia and Zineb Sedira.
