Paris (AFP)
Free until October 11 in tribute to Jacques Chirac, the Paris museum Quai Branly welcomed visitors Saturday for the art but also to honor the memory of the former president, at the origin of its creation.
"I'm a little moved, excuse me," admits Akila came "to pay tribute to Mr. Jacques Chirac", "his passions for Paris, this old country in all its diversity".
"This is a statesman who refused the war, who recognized our involvement in the throes of the past, who was fond of all civilizations," said the visitor, interviewed by an AFP journalist.
Free, flags at half-mast, guestbook and large photos of the former president, the museum wants to join the tribute of the Nation to the former head of state.
"I came to spend a little moment just to remember the president," says Jean-Marie, another visitor. "There were a lot of works and a lot to discover."
"The museum is free, and I'm only passing for the day and suddenly I'll enjoy," said Pascale for whom the free is "a great idea."
For Hakim, "there is no better time to visit this museum".
Fascinated by the first arts and the distant civilizations, Jacques Chirac wanted and carried the Quai Branly museum to defend cultures and peoples threatened by globalization.
Major cultural achievement of its presidency, this museum was renamed "Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac" for its ten years in June 2016.
Since Tuesday, the establishment has been offering a temporary exhibition dedicated to acquisitions made since 1998, when the museum's public establishment was created, which was opened in 2006.
This exhibition, which began two days before the death of Jacques Chirac, "is really his collection, the collection that began in 1998 when he launched the museum Quai Branly", said the museum's president, Stéphane Martin , Friday morning on Europe 1.
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