Bronwyn Winter
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781789620429
- eISBN:
- 9781789629880
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781789620429.003.0010
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
Marseille, France’s second largest city, was one of the two European ‘capitals of culture’ in 2013. The MuCEM, a museum dedicated to the idea of ‘The Mediterranean’ and its diverse cultures, opened ...
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Marseille, France’s second largest city, was one of the two European ‘capitals of culture’ in 2013. The MuCEM, a museum dedicated to the idea of ‘The Mediterranean’ and its diverse cultures, opened on 7 June 2013 as one of the centrepiece’s of Marseille’s capital of culture stint. One of the MuCEM’s two inaugural temporary exhibitions was “Au Bazar du Genre” (at the Gender Bazaar). It was dedicated to exploring the recent history of feminist—and LGBT—challenges to the order of male domination in the twenty-one countries that surround the Mediterranean Sea. The expression ‘bazar’ is ambiguous in French. It calls up a mythified popular culture of the Mediterranean at the same time as it refers, in familiar parlance, to a mess or an assemblage of paraphernalia. This double entendre is surely deliberate, as ‘messing with gender’ is an explicit brief of the exhibition. At the same time, the choice of title leaves the curators of the exhibition open to the critique of bittiness. This chapter discusses these various facets of the exhibition and reactions to it in France, as an example of a certain institutionalisation of feminist memory that has both salutary and problematic aspects.Less
Marseille, France’s second largest city, was one of the two European ‘capitals of culture’ in 2013. The MuCEM, a museum dedicated to the idea of ‘The Mediterranean’ and its diverse cultures, opened on 7 June 2013 as one of the centrepiece’s of Marseille’s capital of culture stint. One of the MuCEM’s two inaugural temporary exhibitions was “Au Bazar du Genre” (at the Gender Bazaar). It was dedicated to exploring the recent history of feminist—and LGBT—challenges to the order of male domination in the twenty-one countries that surround the Mediterranean Sea. The expression ‘bazar’ is ambiguous in French. It calls up a mythified popular culture of the Mediterranean at the same time as it refers, in familiar parlance, to a mess or an assemblage of paraphernalia. This double entendre is surely deliberate, as ‘messing with gender’ is an explicit brief of the exhibition. At the same time, the choice of title leaves the curators of the exhibition open to the critique of bittiness. This chapter discusses these various facets of the exhibition and reactions to it in France, as an example of a certain institutionalisation of feminist memory that has both salutary and problematic aspects.
John Hughson
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780719096150
- eISBN:
- 9781526115331
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096150.003.0009
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sport and Leisure
Chapter 9 addresses the theme of commemoration, in particular the significance of anniversary occasions. This is especially of interest given that the book is published in the 50th year on from the ...
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Chapter 9 addresses the theme of commemoration, in particular the significance of anniversary occasions. This is especially of interest given that the book is published in the 50th year on from the 1966 World Cup. The chapter argues against England’s victory in the Final being used an index of future possibility in international football and, conversely, as a marker of failure. Instead, the case for the holding of the tournament, and the win by England, is reiterated as being a moment in modernity. This is not to suggest a freezing in time, but a belief in the importance of understanding episodes within their own present. The relevance of this understanding for commemoration in public contexts, such as museum exhibitions, is discussed in this concluding chapter.Less
Chapter 9 addresses the theme of commemoration, in particular the significance of anniversary occasions. This is especially of interest given that the book is published in the 50th year on from the 1966 World Cup. The chapter argues against England’s victory in the Final being used an index of future possibility in international football and, conversely, as a marker of failure. Instead, the case for the holding of the tournament, and the win by England, is reiterated as being a moment in modernity. This is not to suggest a freezing in time, but a belief in the importance of understanding episodes within their own present. The relevance of this understanding for commemoration in public contexts, such as museum exhibitions, is discussed in this concluding chapter.
