Quite unusual atmosphere at the Museum of Fine Arts, Saturday November 16 evening. The building vibrated to a soundtrack of the year 1984. And visitors flocked in droves.
7:15 p.m. The queue stretches from the museum to the front of the Institute room. Dozens of people are still hoping to grab one of the hundred tickets sold on Saturday, November 16 evening, at the last minute, for the 40th anniversary celebration of the Musée des Beaux-Arts (MBA) in Orléans.
In a few days, the other 650 tickets were gone. It seems like the 80s fiesta organized for the anniversary of the inauguration was a hit! More precisely, it is the year 1984, the year the MBA opened in these places, which is in the spotlight. The entire soundtrack comes from this vintage. And there is no shortage of hits…
Staff and public in disguise
From the entrance hall, music welcomes guests. This is also where the DJ set will be held later in the evening. A bar is set up in the boutique area, where you can enjoy a local beer or an original cocktail.
Discover the ideal Museum of Fine Arts, according to Olivia Voisin, the director of the Orléans museums
Then, the public is free to wander through all the rooms of the museum at night (provided they do not have glass in their hands, for reasons of security and protection of the works). The staff seems happy to be there, mobilized in numbers for this unique evening. And often disguised. Just like the visitors who go all out: flashy bracelets, heart-shaped glasses, overalls, skirts, sequins… Olivia Voisin, the director of the Orléans museums, didn’t skimp with a shaggy wig black and a mini dress with a plaid pattern. Mind-blowing!
“Show that the museum is not a dusty place”
In short, on Saturday evening, art did not take itself seriously. Even if it allowed some to pass through the doors for the first time. And, who knows, maybe make you want to come back. “We believe in it a lot,” acknowledges Corentin Dury, heritage curator. Beyond the fun side, we want to show that the museum is not a dusty place but a dynamic one. Of the 1,300 works on display, there is inevitably one that may please you! We see people coming back, especially after the Night of Shadows, which we organize around Halloween.”
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Follow Max Jacob in an unusual Paris, thanks to the Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans
Marina, 31, has recently been in Orléans. She discovered the museum thanks to this evening. “We came for the theme and also because the place was unusual. It gives me the opportunity to see the museum. I had seen the museum lit up a few days ago, and that intrigued me.” The evening was lively by several activities, on the different floors: tonic gym in the basement like Véronique and Davina, karaoke on the 1st, dancing with a choreography to reproduce on the 2nd, nanars projected in the auditorium… Can’t wait for them 50 years!
Marie Guibal
