the essential
Until January 12, 2025, the archbishops' palace is hosting the exhibition “Playmobil ® at the palace: history moving forward!”. The designers and managers of the “Playmo du Sud” association came to meet visitors to answer their questions, and ours.
Gaëlle Gillet is a literature teacher and Vincent Rousseau is a history teacher converted into a crisis manager. Above all, they are two Playmobil® enthusiasts. To the point of embarking on historical reconstructions and exhibitions entirely composed of the famous figurines. They came to meet the public as part of the exhibition “Playmobil® at the palace: forward history” (www.Narbonne.fr/playmobil-au-palais-histoire). This can be discovered with free access until January 12, 2025 at the Saint-Martial chapel.
What is the mission of your association “Playmo du Sud”?
Gaëlle Gillet and Vincent Rousseau: This is a family association created in 2012 and based in Cuxac-d'Aude. By popularizing science and culture using Playmobil®, we want to provide the public with knowledge of ethnology, history, literature… whether in a museum or a supermarket. We travel throughout France and since 2012, we have presented more than 300 exhibitions which have brought together more than a million visitors. Playmobil® exhibitions have become our only leisure activity!
What was the main difficulty in the Narbonne exhibition and how did you go about it?
For the historical part, we worked with Marc Azéma (archaeologist researcher and documentary director, Editor’s note). For an exhibition like the one in Narbonne, we quickly reach a thousand hours of work, not counting the hours of research. We must be close to reality and stick to the story, while respecting the public's imagination, and taking care not to commit anachronisms.
You also have to customize some Playmobil®, take them apart and reassemble them, or completely rework them, repaint them and redo their clothes in polymer clay. It was also necessary to fit a maximum number of elements into a minimum amount of space.
The exhibition brings together 500 figures in total, of which around 360 are arranged on the central plateau. The reconstructions of the cathedral, the town hall square with Via Domitia, etc. are produced using a 3D printer. We had to set up the exhibition wall by wall, paint certain elements on site, cut, add and do a lot of things on site. We spent three days installing everything.
Do you have a large collection of figurines?
Vincent Rousseau: I have been collecting Playmobil® for 35 years. I devote 150 m3 of space to them spread over two houses and I have more than 150 themes. My largest collection is about the Crusades and has 20,000 figures on a board. In March, we will exhibit in Salses-le-Château in a 120 m2 space entirely filled with Playmobil… We like challenges!
Is the exhibition on the history of Narbonne aimed at children or adults?
Both, from the age of 5 to 105! There is no need to be a collector and our exhibitions often bring together three generations: the grandmother, the children, the grandchildren. In addition, there are winks in each exhibition: in Narbonne, Harry Potter and Superman have slipped among the characters, this draws on the sense of observation of all generations. Playmobil® is childhood and nostalgia, but you can create very high-quality exhibitions with a popular toy.
By visiting the exhibition, people discover the history of Narbonne in seven scenes beyond the ancient period, while enjoying historic buildings such as the St-Martial Chapel and the Archbishops' Palace.
