Season 2023

The beautiful escape of Michelle Daufresne

Michelle Daufresne made a remarkable donation of more than 1,000 original plates, linked to the production of around forty books, with sketches, models… at the museum of youth illustration (mij), in 2019. With Letizia Galli, Georges Lemoine, Kersti Chaplet, May Angeli, Zaü… she is a great artist who is one of the generous donors of the mij.
Complete artist, illustrator, sculptor, painter, author, sensitive, laughing and free of tone, she began her career in 1950 and has never stopped creating since. His bibliography bears witness to his taste for freedom of style and expression, from one publisher to another, from la Semaine de Suzette to Père Castor, from Le Cerf to Éditions des Femmes, from Syros Alternatives to Seuil… and retraces both his personal and artistic journey, and a bit of the history of children’s books.
“L’échappée belle” that the mij devotes to him gives an account of this story, is interested in the way in which his work speaks of his time, of social subjects, but also of major subjects (life, love, death, after…). It pays homage to the visual artist who never stopped observing nature and creating with pencil, ink, wash, watercolor, with collages on paper or on sandpaper, with feathers , with bark on a painted background, pearls, shavings, shells… Michelle Daufresne’s work resembles her: elegantly free, combining smiles and seriousness and, with precision, fantasy and altruism.
He talks about his beginnings at Père Castor and his way of reporting on his time, then tackles the themes that run through his albums: friendship, family, big questions, a taste for freedom, sometimes despite conveniences and the almost insatiable bond with nature.
The museum mediation service has designed a dedicated course for the youngest, with the reading of albums, fun activity modules (observation games, motor skills games, multi-sensory space, etc.) and activities reserved for the very young. -small, identified over the rooms. The scenography for this exhibition was entrusted to Juliette Laval, visual designer in Dijon, who plays with colors and materials, giving each room its own visual identity and creating clear markers with colored signage.

from november 10, 2022 to june 18, 2023

Illustration of the Youth Museum - MIJ - MOULINS

Doctor Bailleau, the fabulous archaeological adventure

Doctor Guillaume-Joseph Bailleau (1830-1909), scholar and lover of archeology, is one of the pioneers of archeology and in particular of prehistoric archeology.
It contributes to the development of knowledge on the first men occupying the Bourbonnais.
He is in particular at the origin of the research carried out on the site of the Grotte des Fées in Châtelperron, the remains of which testify to the period of transition between the Neanderthal occupation and that of modern man.
Avid collector, Doctor Bailleau collects objects discovered in the Allier, but also on the greatest archaeological sites of the moment (Valley of the Dordogne, Solutré…).
His collection is dispersed after his death between different museums outside France. However, the Department was able to acquire in 2016 part of this collection which remained within the Bishopric of Moulins.
The Anne-de-Beaujeu museum is putting on a monographic exhibition devoted to this little-known figure in prehistoric archaeology. It highlights Châtelperron, a major site of national archeology, and completes the old data with the very latest information from the field, thanks to the resumption of excavations in 2019. A rich cultural program accompanies this exhibition (conferences, guided tours, demonstrations of prehistoric techniques, film, artistic practice workshops, etc.).

from february 14, 2023 to september 17, 2023

Anne de Beaujeu Museum and Mantin House - MAB - MOULINS

Traditional wood crafts

Last year to see the exhibition on clog makers, carpenters, pit sawyers and the wood trade from yesterday to today!

from march 01, 2023 to august 12, 2023

Glasworker's Museum - SAINT-NICOLAS-DES-BIEFS

Janik Acrylic, painter

from april 01, 2023 to may 27, 2023

Museum of the Berry Canal - AUDES

Treasures of a Cluniac Priory

The exhibition will allow the public to cross the different Romanesque, Gothic and modern periods from unknown works and yet classified as Historic Monuments. Among the works on display: the Virgin in Majesty from the 12th century, the Romanesque enclosure, a set of 15th century statues, the jewel of which is the restored Saint Mary Magdalene.
This exhibition aims to present exceptional works, to tell the story of the site from the 10th century to the 19th century and to discuss its candidacy for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List. An educational course will be set up for family visits and schools.

from april 01, 2023 to november 05, 2023

Museum and Priory Church - SOUVIGNY

Gendarmes in the Great War

When the First World War broke out in early August 1914, the gendarmes became the effective architects of general mobilization. As for the border brigades, they became forward sentries against the German invasion. However, the weapon does not count, as it may have been in previous conflicts, among the combat units of the French army. Its role is different. And although painful, obscure and thankless, it is nonetheless necessary: ​​from the police of the battlefield to that of the cantonment through the securing of the access roads, the roles of the provost are multiple.

To this, it is worth recalling the voluntary commitments of many gendarmes in the combat troops and the missions of maintaining public order far from the front where the gendarmes are the guarantors of the safety of the families left alone in the rear.

This exhibition was produced with the help of the Association of Collectors for the Safeguarding of the Heritage of the Maréchaussée at the Gendarmerie and the Gendarmerie School of Montluçon.

from april 08, 2023 to november 11, 2023

Historial of the peasant soldier - FLEURIEL

The year 1943

Resistance. The deportation. The French state.

Through a selection of period objects and documents, the Mémorial du Corgenay association looks back on the year 1943, oscillating between the tragedy of the occupation and the hope carried by a resistance which is organized and s intensifies.

from april 08, 2023 to november 11, 2023

Historial of the peasant soldier - FLEURIEL

Witches and healers

Come and discover the new temporary exhibition “Witches and Healers through Plants” as well as the permanent collections within the museum.

from april 08, 2023 to october 01, 2023

Yves Machelon Museum - GANNAT

DOGON – Michel and Sophie Bohbot Collection

Works of art from the mythical Bandiagara cliff in Mali.

Masks carrying the sacred, beautiful locks, statuettes of ancestors with a rain patina, a magnificent collection of works from the Dogon civilization.

from april 28, 2023 to october 31, 2023

The African and Asian Arts Museum - VICHY

The museum at 100 years old

In 1922, Henri Watthé created the association La Maison du Missionnaire. Its goals: to provide accommodation and obtain free spa treatments for Catholic missionaries. This creation is part of a broader historical context: since the 19th century, the great missionary orders have sent men and women to carry the Christian message throughout the world. Vichy was then a cosmopolitan spa capital where missionaries, civil servants, soldiers and personalities from the colonial empire rubbed shoulders. At the request of the metropolis, the missionaries collect objects. This is the birth of missionary museums. In 1922, the museum is the showcase of the association.

The objects serve the discourse of the time: show the work of the missionaries and convince visitors to help the work. For the public, it is sometimes the first contact with the objects of unknown populations. The collection fund is made up of 1922 to 1940 with 4,000 pieces and natural specimens.

The exhibition is an evocation of the first installations of the museum.

from april 28, 2023 to october 31, 2023

The African and Asian Arts Museum - VICHY

Tuaregs, nomadic objects

Since its creation, the museum has kept Tuareg collections, in particular old leather, characteristic of the art of this culture. Thanks to a collaboration with the Musée des Confluences in Lyon, the museum had the opportunity to receive a fine donation of jewelery from Niger from Mr. and Mrs. Burner, Masnat association.

All of these works allow us to admire a culture of nomadic, refined origin. Each object is essential and carries the Tuareg values: the sobriety of the forms, the balance of the decorations correspond to an ideal of restraint and nobility in society. It is a journey in the immensity of the Sahara through the works of three countries, Algeria, Mali, Niger.

The Kel-Tamasheq: Tuareg is not the exact name, they call themselves Kel-Tamasheq, those of the Tamasheq language. Tuareg is a French name, used since the 19th century. It would come from the Arabic targa, place of origin of certain groups in Libya.

from april 28, 2023 to october 31, 2023

The African and Asian Arts Museum - VICHY

My heart opens to your voice

French opera at the Théâtre du Grand Casino in Vichy (1901-1965)

from may 20, 2023 to november 26, 2023

The Opera of Vichy Museum - VICHY

The Odyssey of the Wheel-Bow

The exhibition offers you a journey of twists and turns driven by the wheel of the hurdy-gurdy. A long epic begun in the Middle Ages, continued by the blind and beggars, extended to the court of Louis XV, continued in the cabarets in the 19th century, relaunched by European Folk Song and sublimated today with avant-garde oldies.
Interactive visit. Movies in the auditorium.

from june 03, 2023 to september 24, 2023

The Stringed-instrument maker's House - JENZAT

Neither seen nor known, the unpublished works of the Anne de Beaujeu museum

Thanks to the support of the Regional Museum Acquisition Fund (Ministry of Culture, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region), as well as the generosity of donors, the Anne-de-Beaujeu departmental museum was able to acquire a set of works outstanding in recent years. Since its origins, the museum has been increasing its collections along a few strong lines: local archaeology, decorative arts from Moulins, as well as French academic art from 1850 to 1900. Examples of these themes and from all periods are exhibited in this new attachment.
Since 2019, a research team has been conducting archaeological excavations in the south of the Allier department, along the Sioule gorges. This work led to the discovery of a large fortified settlement from the end of the Bronze Age (around 800 BC). It is the habitat of this period which yields the largest number of metal objects in France, and it is one of the richest in Europe. A first deposit of objects unearthed in 2017 was acquired by the Anne-de-Beaujeu museum. Some pieces are presented here for the first time.
The museum’s collection of faience from Moulins has been considerably enriched in recent years, with the acquisition in 2020 and 2021 of three plates and two baskets called “bannettes” made by faience makers from Moulins around 1760 – 1770.
Reference collection of the painter Marcellin Desboutin (1823-1902), born in Cérilly (Allier), the Anne-de-Beaujeu museum acquired in 2020 a rare drawing by the artist representing the famous Edgar Degas, whose Desboutin was a close friend.
Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse (1859-1938), son-in-law of the Moulinois poet Théodore de Banville (1823-1891), whose sculpted mask was acquired by the museum in 2020, is also represented with Le bal des ardents, a major work preempted by the museum in 2017.
Finally, a few surprises, such as a Kanak monstrance ax or a mysterious object, can reappear from the museum’s reserves during refurbishments and find the light of an exhibition room.

from october 22, 2023 to september 17, 2023

Anne de Beaujeu Museum and Mantin House - MAB - MOULINS