VISIT – The Archive of Les Arts Décoratifs
Illustrations by Alexia Almeida. (Photography is not allowed inside the archives).
This fall our fashion students, together with our Director Marco Pecorari, visited the offsite archives of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, a partner institution of Parsons Paris. The course called Curatorial Practices in Contemporary Fashion explores fashion curating from a museological perspective, investigating the history of fashion in museums, different types of fashion exhibitions, the role of the curator, the archive, and other collateral practices. This visit was a unique chance to see the Les Arts Décoratifs archive, which is usually inaccessible, and also their laboratory of conservation and mannequinage.
Here’s a students description of the event:
“Upon walking into the gated Archives of Les Arts Decoratifs one could already get a sense of how the rest of the visit would plan out. The guards watching from a grey box, whom each of us had to sign in by giving a piece of identity, ensuring they knew exactly who had access to the archives. Continuing on into this big structured building another security section was met. Through the blue doors, we stepped into a big white space with one elevator. Clinical looking, an air of orderliness was enhanced by such minimalist interior decor. Arriving on the third floor the same basic white space was presented. Yet when the door was unlocked this vast maze came into a view. A curious artists dream one could say, with rows upon rows of old artifacts from various countries representing numerous cultures. Rows upon rows of fashion from Jean Paul Gaultier’s collections, to Asian inspired kimonos, to past Louvre exhibitions. A room of curiosities one could call it; it was breathtaking, the whole time resisting the urge to touch everything or to restrain from lifting papers up to see what lay beneath. However within this maze of chaos, order and precision was not of absence.” –Rachel D Cunningham.
To read more: http://blogs.newschool.edu/parsons-paris/2016/01/13/visit-archives-musee-des-arts-decoratifs/