Marseilles (AFP)

Dumbfounded in front of a painting, Fadila Gueziz, a resident of a city in Marseille, savored this day spent at the Museum of Mediterranean Civilizations thanks to a specially chartered bus which, every Sunday, comes to collect people who are socially and geographically distant from Mucem free of charge.

For the inhabitants of the districts of La Viste, Bougainville, Plan d'Aou or the city of La Castellane, located on the heights of Marseille, the journey through time begins as soon as they enter the bus with the orange armchairs of the years. 1970.

Specially put back into service for the "Destination Mucem" operation, the bus travels every Sunday in turn through the north, south, east and north-east districts of the sprawling second city in France, renowned for its shortcomings in terms of transport. in common as well as for the glaring disparities between its poor and rich neighborhoods.

"We cannot resign ourselves to the fact that the Marseillais distant for social and geographical reasons cannot come" to the Museum of the Civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean (Mucem), summarizes its director Jean-François Chougnet during this Sunday opening.

Frequented at 50% by inhabitants of the region including 30% of Marseillais, the museum surrounded by a fine lace of black concrete and located in the extension of the Old Port, records an "over-representation" of visitors coming from neighborhoods nearby or more affluent districts than in the rest of this city, according to Mr. Chougnet.

"It is not easy to tell them to come, we have to break down the barriers so we are the ones who are going to look for them", comments Justine Brousse, the guide who, during the half-hour journey, prepares this novice audience. and reassures him so that he appropriates the place and the heterogeneous works that compose it.

- "Here, I breathe!"

-

"In the end, a museum is like this sardine box, it is used to keep things so that they do not get damaged", she explains, brandishing the iron box in front of the very attentive young people whose most say they have never set foot in a museum.

You can "touch but only with your eyes, dance, but not eat or drink. To do this, you can take the footbridge that connects the museum to Fort Saint-Jean surrounded by its terraces and with its magnificent view of the sea" , continues the young woman who reassures Yanis worried about the solidity of the catwalk.

# photo1

"Inside the Museum it's like Ali Baba's barracks, there are lots of objects of all colors. You are going to take a trip across the Mediterranean: we will talk to you about conquest, power, of wealth, of pirates, to return to the present day, "she entices them before letting them rush into theaters.

Impatient, Fadila Gueziz accompanied by her three children is not disappointed: "I cannot take my eyes off this painting, the light is so beautiful. It tells a story", she marvels in front of a canvas depicting a boat facing a storm.

Pulled by the sleeve by her equally curious children, the mother is already saddened: "There are too many things to see, we will never have enough time to see everything (...)".

"Here, I breathe", appreciates this mother who finds it important that her "children see something other than the neighborhood".

"I went to this museum a very long time ago and I did not return there for lack of time so when my daughter came back from kindergarten telling me + mom we have to go to Mucem +, after a intervention in class, I jumped at the opportunity, ”says Manou, aged about thirty.

# photo2

"Culture is for everyone, it should not be reserved for sores," proclaims this employee.

Bassam Ali-Mahamoud, who had never set foot in a museum, is also won over by his visit and remains marked by the sculpture of the Lobster by contemporary artist Jeff Koons whose works are exhibited until October on the top floor.

"I expected to see old-fashioned stuff, original but not that much," says the teenager incredulously.

© 2021 AFP