© EDG
The major annual exhibition at the Nancy Aquarium Museum has chosen death as its theme. Aimed at adolescents and adults, it combines scientific explanations and artists’ visions to de-dramatize a world that is too often taboo.
The exhibition poster announces the color: the word death is surrounded by small, rather happy colored animals, with large round, questioning eyes. With a scientific vocation, the Aquarium Museum aims first to address the question of death from a rational angle. The visitor is welcomed by explanatory videos. A resuscitation doctor gives it a medical definition, a philosopher deciphers his approach among the great thinkers, a zoologist also discusses his vision of death. A look to the side and we come to the heart of the matter: a hyper-realistic sculpture of a disembowelled hippopotamus, following an attack by lionesses. Definition of death, causes of death, consequences of death. A triptych which will serve as a guiding principle for the exhibition in a journey which embraces the subject in its entirety, punctuated by numerous specimens from the museum’s zoological collections, works of art and slightly offbeat experiences.
When art meets science
Among the most striking pieces, this naturalized scene which reproduces the attack of a cheetah on a springbok. The movement, the expression of the animals, everything is there to address the theme of predation among the primary causes of death. Aging is addressed through a black and white photo exhibition by photographer Anastasia Pottinger on the skin of centenarian women. But also the looks of Stephan Vanfleteren and his dead swan in majesty, or of Sylvain Lang who brings back to life the painting by Émile Friant, All Saints’ Day, with his funeral stroll in front of the cemetery, the original of which is at the Museum of Fine Arts from Nancy. Aesthetic, each photo nevertheless addresses scientific notions which enlighten the visitor. Under portraits of elderly people, we can read: “Senescent cells then appear. These cells, damaged but not replaced, produce toxic residues for the body, which can cause pathologies. » Large frescoes detail statistics on the risks of accidental death and longevity.
Humor despite everything
Faithful to its general public approach, the Muséum Aquarium team did not forget to bring a touch of humor to this rather dark theme. This is the case of this Darwin Awards video which details “particularly stupid” deaths, like this man who wanted to break the world record for the longest flight hanging… from balloons. The setting is complete, with a room that reproduces the atmosphere of an autopsy room and a morgue. At the end of the tour, the exhibition offers the visitor, after passing through a door in the shape of a coffin, to be buried alive, thanks to a video projection on the ceiling, in order to confront one of the worst anxieties in life. matter. On a green background, after choosing your equipment, you can also have your portrait taken in the setting of your choice, to choose the best way to die.
After daring an exhibition called Hairs only on hair in the animal world in 2019, after having mentioned love and sexual relations in Attraction in 2021, the Aquarium Museum succeeds in the challenge of evoking the least smiling theme that exists. But it is with a smile that we leave this exhibition, delighted by the answers provided to questions that we hardly dared to ask. And that is the whole point of a scientific museum that educates as much as it entertains.
Death, until November 24 at the Muséum Aquarium. Guided tours on May 4, 11, 18, 25 and June 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29, 2024 at 3 p.m.
