“Do statues also die?”: The showcase exhibition is extended until June

“Do statues also die?”: The Museum of Ethnology and World Cultures' new showcase exhibition commemorates the 70th anniversary of the premier of Les statues meurent aussi, offering a new perspective on the film.

“Statues also die”, a revolutionary documentary made by the French directors Chris Marker and Alain Resnais in 1953, is a poignant and provocative exploration of the complex interaction between museums, colonialism, art and cultural identity. The film explores the soul of African art, showing how it was systematically collected, commercialised and displayed in Western museums. The film ends by calling into question the ethics and the consequences of these practices. 

But to what extent is the film still relevant today, seventy years later?
Curated by Roger Canals, the anthropologist, film-maker and lecturer at the University of Barcelona, this exhibition aims to commemorate, showcase and analyse this revolutionary and critical documentary film, which was banned in France for over ten years after its release.
The exhibition aims to reflect on the film's message and its validity today. It is divided into six areas: The life and death of images, The assembly of images, Where is the artist?, Exoticism, primitivism and voice-over, Art, a universal category? and Do statues also die?. It is complemented by interviews with experts and a screening of the documentary.

This exhibition is open to everyone and can be seen at the Museum's Montcada venue from 13 December.
In French with subtitles.

With the collaboration of Presènce Africaine and the ERC (European Research Council)