Musée du Quai Branly

Today, I finally went to the Musée du Quai Branly, to see the exhibition that has been attracting my attention for the past month and a half, "Cheveux Chéris" (Cherished Hair). It was so worth it. I've never actually gone to a museum alone, but it was a lovely experience. Had it not been for the fact that my legs were tired and my body was screaming for rest, I probably would have stayed in the museum until it closed. The museum is fantastic. As you walk up to the museum, you see glass walls, and behind those walls are a lovely garden, which becomes even lovelier at night with the green, blue, and white cylindrical lights that cast lovely shadows on the ceilings above. How do I describe the architecture of the museum itself? It's nothing short of fantastic. As you walk in to see the exhibitions and the regular collections, you are exposed to a world of art from the West, East, North, and South parts of the world. I couldn't drink in enough of the art, African and Asian especially, which I most certainly have not seen enough of in my lifetime. What fascinated me most about the collections was how many similarities there were between cultures the world over. We humans, we are nothing but the same, wrapped a bit differently each time. Cultures from South America, the Middle Americas, as well as African and Indian (as in the country) have all sent warriors to war to have them come back with scalps (gross! yes, so gross, but it's true!), hold fascinations with our dead relatives, finding it not easy to let them go (how is it ever easy to let go of a loved one?), place different symbolism in hair itself. Cheveux Chéris isn't really about hair, so much as it is about people, the world over, people, who are so similar to each other, who want the same things, people, who reflect each other in every aspect whether they choose to acknowledge it or not. As I left the museum, I contemplated the fact that humanity is savage (as is the rest of the animal kingdom), and that for all intents and purposes, we haven't advanced a bit from our ancestors. Not what I was expecting, but a refreshing reflection to end a pleasant afternoon in a splendid museum (enough adjectives there?).