Musée du Quai Branly

I've been telling myself I should go visit this museum since it opened. (That was in 2006.) But then time went by, busy living everyday life . . . So here I share a little recap of my first visit to Quai Branly.

Quai Branly displays indigenous art and culture from Asia, Africa, Oceania and America. The building has been designed by Architect Jean Nouvel. It's right next to the Eiffel Tower at the left. To get to the museum, I'd recommend to get off at Iéna station (line 9). It's about a 5 min walk and on the way, you can get some nice angles of the Eiffel Towel.

Follow directions to exit the station, then you should go strait down on the same sidewalk. Take the stairs down at your right 100m later. (There, you can get glimpses of the tower already.) At the end of the alley, on your left, there's the underground path to cross the busy road. Then cross the Passerelle Debilly, the entrance is straight ahead.

I liked the garden with mainly bamboos and high grasses; it convey a kind of wilderness that matches the museum's theme. There is a restaurant in the garden. Just took a peek at the menu so I can't tell you the quality of the food. There were large salads, pasta, grilled salmon, prices are around 12€.

Inside, you begin to walk up a "river". Then you get to the main collections area. The architecture is very pleasant, it's basically a large open space but where you walk through the different continents. The path is very intuitive, it goes gently up and down in elevation. You flow around the globe from Oceania, Asia, Africa and America. There's almost no sharp angles, walls are curvy, you won't get lost between different separate rooms like in most museums. 

  
I took too many pictures so obviously I won't put them all up in one post or you'll get really tired scrolling. So here's a recap, all photos can be found on my yumesan picasa log if you want to have a closer look.

This one is my personal favorite!

And this is the bonus!

Even my shots are blurry, I still wanted to show you these. They are so funny, completely opposite all the other objets. These are masks from Ammasslik, Greenland. Most of them had a twisted nose or mouth. I wonder what's the idea behind this . . .

read more about these here