Interpretation centers: these museums without objects

The gaze is first attracted by a vestige of the medieval rampart embedded in a modern wall: in Beauvais (Oise), the Saint-Hilaire tower crosses two floors from its height to lead the visitor to join, in the basement, the new interpretation center of architecture and heritage (CIAP).

A little behind in an alcove, Françoise and Denis watch a video dedicated to the 135 bells of the city. Satisfied with their visit, these Beauvais retirees who already knew well the past of this territory expect this equipment that it “explains the monuments to young people and tourists to encourage them to admire our historic center”.

It is for this reason that this CIAP, inaugurated last April, is accommodated a stone’s throw from the cathedral, at the quadrilateral – the emblematic building of Beauvais which obtained from the Ministry of Culture the label “City and country of art and history”, in 2012.

In the charter that she then signed, the municipality was to offer an interpretation center to “show, understand and love architecture, heritage and the territory in all its dimensions – historical, landscape, urban and human” according to the official definition, since the creation of this label in 1985. It is done.

More accessible than a work of art

In the exhibition, through photos, casts and other chronological friezes, the tradition of Beauvaisis sandstone pottery is detailed, while, further on, panels tell the arrival of the brick, at the end of the 19th century. You can also play “reassemble” a model of the cathedral, each era being represented by a plastic block of different color.

No authentic object is visible, only reproductions or representations in various forms: “The course of the centers is based on the discourse that we want to transmit to decipher a monument, an archaeological site, an landscape or a city, based on the questions that the visitor is asking, explains Serge Chaumier, professor in museology at the University of Artois. While the museum builds its circuit in the other direction, starting from works of its collections to talk to the public. »»

The concept of the interpretation center was born in the 1950s in the major North American parks which wanted to raise awareness of the preservation of nature. Then he was available to tell on site, on the Native American battles of the 19th century or the life of the belugas, these white cetaceans of the St. Lawrence River, in Canada.

From the 1980s, under the warmer terms of “house”, “museum” or with a title taken from the place, interpretation centers multiplied in Europe. There are now several hundred in France, of which around fifty are CIAPs.

Everyone is to raise awareness of an invisible or difficult to perceive heritage. “They must present its historical and geographic context, ideally in a building which has a meaning in relation to this heritage or which opens on the site of which we speak,” summarizes Rémi Desalbres, architect of heritage, whose agency Arc & Sites is specialized on the subject.

Among the precursors, the CIAP d’Auvers-sur-Oise, installed since 1994 at the castle, property of Val-d’Oise. In this village which has seen many painters pass by which Van Gogh, he then offered the public to immerse himself in pictures of paintings, projected in period parts, along a spectacle course: “Time trip to the Impressionists”. “The use of emotion is a claimed ingredient to get the message across. We do not hesitate to stage, to play on perceptions, sensations ”, points to Serge Chaumier.

Elsewhere, we will make smells feel, touching materials or will allow visitors to learn archeology in a square of excavations. “It is a question of offering the public to have an experience,” adds the researcher. At the risk of sliding towards the amusement park? “Sometimes, in fact, the explanatory subject becomes tenuous in relation to the playful dimension. »»

And to cite as an example Vulcania, opened in 2002 near Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme). Originally defined as a “center of scientific culture around volcanism” carried by the Auvergne region, it claims today as a theme park “to have fun and discover the secrets of volcanism” with attractions more spectacular than educational.

Emulation for museums

The development of interpretation centers has also influenced the way in which museums have been renewed for twenty years, presenting fewer objects but better commented, in order to attract new audiences.

The extreme example being the Gadagne museum, in Lyon (Rhône), which, in 2019, adopted the diagram of a CIAP: the history of the city is now summarized around three or four objects by room – while it has very rich collections.

Conversely, the very educational center of interpretation of the Pont du Gard, “the largest in France” with its 2,500 m2 of exhibition on water management in the Roman world, opened in 2001, claims today the title of “museum” near the ancient aqueduct site.

“These two spaces interact, even tend to merge,” observes Serge Chaumier. Thanks to their renovation, many local museums have joined an introductory room to the history of their city. Thus, the Bordeaux World Heritage Interpretation Center, closed since 2022, will integrate a space in the Aquitaine Museum next December.

The asset of free

If museum consistency guides this choice, economic logic also justifies rapprochement: “It is a heavy investment, because the center will have to be open and animated at least from March to October. Let us not forget that it is addressed as much to the inhabitants as to the tourists. Other councilors choose to install it in the media library or the tourist office, “confirms Jonathan Fedy, deputy director of the network of remarkable sites and cities of France which brings together two thirds of art and history cities.

Above all, he specifies, the CIAP, unlike other types of interpretation centers, “must be free. We must therefore think about solutions on a case -by -case basis ”. In Nîmes (Gard), where several museums already tell a part of local history, the municipality has radically opted for an online interpretation center which pools all of these resources.

Even when they benefit from a place, most of them offer abundant digital contents “which must be synthetic and provide other types of information than panels,” said Rémi Desalbres. This fragile equipment is growing quickly: “There is nothing worse than visiting an interpretation center where half of the touch pads or projectors are broken,” notes Jonathan Fedy, who points to the importance of good maintenance so that the attendance continues. Thus, Auvers-sur-Oise, in 2017, completely renewed its scenic career, its projection system being out of breath.

But it was also a question of surprising visitors again “in a race for ever stronger emotions, because the public is quickly jaded”, notes Serge Chaumier. So some, like the House of Libellules in La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée), conversely make the bet to avoid sophisticated technologies.

Rémi Desalbres insists on the importance of always organizing human mediation in different forms – visits, workshops, conferences … – so that the place is constantly living. In Beauvais, Annick and Annick, two sixties, echo him at the end of their visit: “It’s pleasant, spacious, but we will come back for a guided tour. »»