Georges Henri Rivière
Encyclopedia
Georges-Henri Rivière was a French museologist, and innovator
of modern French ethnographic museology
practices.
Rivière studied music
until 1925, when he began museum studies at the Ecole du Louvre
, from which he graduated in 1928. During the following years, he cared for the D. David-Weill collection, which included Chinese porcelains, Greek and Roman antiquities, and European decorative arts and paintings. In 1928, Rivière curated his first show of ancient American art at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and joined Paul Rivet
as his vice-director to begin the renovation of the dusty Musée du Trocadéro, which was reintroduced to the public as a fully modernized Musée de l'Homme
in 1938.
In 1929 and 1930, Rivière was on the editorial board of Documents, to which he also contributed articles, such as “The Ethnographical museum of the Trocadéro" (1929, issue 1), as well as chronicles on popular culture such as “Religion and ‘Folies-Bergère’” (1930, issue 4), and profiles on jazz musicians such as Eddie South
and Hayman Swayze. During the thirties, Rivière financed ambitious research projects such as the Dakar-Djibouti mission, headed by Marcel Griaule
, and the Sahara-Soudan mission, which provided in-depth research and enough material for over seventy ethnographic exhibitions between 1928 and 1937.
That year, he launched the Musée National des Arts et Traditions Populaires
, also based on the Trocadéro museum's ethnographic collections. Oriented toward public education, its collection and exhibitions programme first focused on popular traditional art forms before dedicating itself to science and research with the introduction of the Centre d'Ethnologie Française, inaugurated shortly after the Second World War. Between 1948 and 1965, Georges-Henri Rivière served as the first acting director of ICOM, the International Council of Museums
, to which he returned as Permanent Advisor in 1968.
Widely credited for introducing the concept of the ecomuseum
, which attempts to portray civilizations in their natural environments, he was one of the most highly esteemed museological entrepreneurs in modern France. The review Museum dedicated an entire issue to ecomuseums (No. 148, 1985), and included an article by Georges-Henri Rivière titled, "The ecomuseum, an evolutive definition". La muséologie selon Georges-Henri Rivière, was published posthumously in 1989.
Innovator
An innovator in a general sense, is a person or an organization who is one of the first to introduce into reality something better than before. That often opens up a new area for others and achieves an innovation.-History:...
of modern French ethnographic museology
Museology
Museology is the diachronic study of museums and how they have established and developed in their role as an educational mechanism under social and political pressures.-Overview:...
practices.
Rivière studied music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
until 1925, when he began museum studies at the Ecole du Louvre
École du Louvre
The École du Louvre is an institution of higher education and French Grande École located in the Aile de Flore of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France, and is dedicated to the study of archaeology, art history, anthropology and epigraphy....
, from which he graduated in 1928. During the following years, he cared for the D. David-Weill collection, which included Chinese porcelains, Greek and Roman antiquities, and European decorative arts and paintings. In 1928, Rivière curated his first show of ancient American art at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and joined Paul Rivet
Paul Rivet
Paul Rivet was a French ethnologist, who founded the Musée de l'Homme in 1937. He was also one of the founders of the Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes, an antifascist organization created in the wake of the February 6, 1934 far right riots.Rivet proposed a theory according to...
as his vice-director to begin the renovation of the dusty Musée du Trocadéro, which was reintroduced to the public as a fully modernized Musée de l'Homme
Musée de l'Homme
The Musée de l'Homme was created in 1937 by Paul Rivet for the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne. It is the descendant of the Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro, founded in 1878...
in 1938.
In 1929 and 1930, Rivière was on the editorial board of Documents, to which he also contributed articles, such as “The Ethnographical museum of the Trocadéro" (1929, issue 1), as well as chronicles on popular culture such as “Religion and ‘Folies-Bergère’” (1930, issue 4), and profiles on jazz musicians such as Eddie South
Eddie South
Eddie South was an American jazz violinist.-Biography:South was a classical violin prodigy who switched to jazz because of limited opportunities for African-American musicians, and started his career playing in vaudeville and jazz orchestras with Freddie Keppard, Jimmy Wade, Charles Elgar, and...
and Hayman Swayze. During the thirties, Rivière financed ambitious research projects such as the Dakar-Djibouti mission, headed by Marcel Griaule
Marcel Griaule
Marcel Griaule was a French anthropologist known for his studies of the Dogon people of West Africa, and for pioneering ethnographic field studies in France....
, and the Sahara-Soudan mission, which provided in-depth research and enough material for over seventy ethnographic exhibitions between 1928 and 1937.
That year, he launched the Musée National des Arts et Traditions Populaires
Musée national des Arts et Traditions Populaires
The Musée national des Arts et Traditions Populaires was a museum of the popular arts and traditions of France. It was located at 6, avenue du Mahatma Gandhi, Paris, France, but is now permanently closed to the public...
, also based on the Trocadéro museum's ethnographic collections. Oriented toward public education, its collection and exhibitions programme first focused on popular traditional art forms before dedicating itself to science and research with the introduction of the Centre d'Ethnologie Française, inaugurated shortly after the Second World War. Between 1948 and 1965, Georges-Henri Rivière served as the first acting director of ICOM, the International Council of Museums
International Council of Museums
The International Council of Museums is an international organization of museums and museum professionals that is committed to the conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible.- Overview :Created...
, to which he returned as Permanent Advisor in 1968.
Widely credited for introducing the concept of the ecomuseum
Ecomuseum
Ecomuseums originated in France, the concept being developed by George Henri Rivière and Hugues de Varine, who coined the term ‘ecomusée’ in 1971...
, which attempts to portray civilizations in their natural environments, he was one of the most highly esteemed museological entrepreneurs in modern France. The review Museum dedicated an entire issue to ecomuseums (No. 148, 1985), and included an article by Georges-Henri Rivière titled, "The ecomuseum, an evolutive definition". La muséologie selon Georges-Henri Rivière, was published posthumously in 1989.
Articles
- Isac Chiva, George-Henri Rivière: un demi-siècle d'ethnologie de la France, Terrain, Numéro 5 — Identité culturelle et appartenance régionale (Octobre 1985), put online 17 July 2005 http://terrain.revues.org/document2887.html (in French)
External links
Sources
French Ministry of Culture- Definition of the ecomuseum according to Georges-Henri Rivière (1976)http://www.ecomusee-creusot-montceau.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=39 (in French)