Regional Museum of Auvergne

Inaugurated in 1969, this museum is one of the last to bear witness to what historians, museographers and ethnologists of the 1930s-40s had imagined in a France in the throes of change.
Preserving in order to pass on was the idea of the museum’s founders, who spent more than 10(…)

Inaugurated in 1969, this museum is one of the last to bear witness to what historians, museographers and ethnologists of the 1930s-40s had imagined in a France in the throes of change.
Preserving in order to pass on was the idea of the museum’s founders, who spent more than 10 years bringing together the pieces that today make up its collections.
A deliberately uncluttered presentation highlights objects chosen for their role in evoking skills and lifestyles that have often disappeared (farming tools, housing, furniture, costumes and headdresses, musical instruments and folk religious art), rather than for their aesthetic quality.

Farming plays an important role here, with work in the fields, animal husbandry, bee-keeping, hunting, fishing and viticulture, as well as various forms of handicraft : lace and rosaries, spinning, weaving, stone-cutting, pottery and basketry.
The common room of an Auvergne house provides an example of the habitat of yesteryear ; furniture, crockery and lighting evoke domestic life.
Birth, marriage and widowhood, as well as games, music and religious festivities, bear witness to the different moments in life through a fine collection of statuary, costumes and jewelry.

The contemporary installation “Larmes de Joie”, a collection of the beauty of Auvergne condensed into a shower of glass tears, created by artist Benoît Dutour, testifies to the museum’s view of today’s world and concludes the visit.