Looking back at Summer 2006 in film: Cinema at the museum

For the Cahi?rs du Cinéma, along with many French features writers, Summer 2006 marked a historical turning point in the relationship between cinema and museum. These two institutions seem to be melding together to become the “Cinémamusée” (Cahi?rs du Cinéma No 611). Three major Paris museums are concurrently devoting shows to filmmakers whom one would not have expected to find there: Pedro Almodóvar at the new Cinémath?que Française, Agn?s Varda at Fondation Cartier and J-L Godard at Centre Pompidou. The Godard exhibition in particular has fuelled the debate – above all due to disagreement between Godard and the Beaubourg on the exhibition concept. Some people believe the new trend spells the end of true cinéphilie and of the cinema, which itself threatens to become museum-like, while others are celebrating the new liaison as a long-overdue recognition of the art of film – even presaging the dawn of a new era. A development that began in the realm of artistic film has now started to engulf feature film and the major institutions as well.

In fact, film and cinema are more in evidence in museums and exhibitions this summer than ever before. Keeping our focus on France, here are further examples that in some cases go far beyond film screenings or retrospectives: The Louvre is sponsoring a feature film by Tsai Ming-Liang. To celebrate its twentieth anniversary, the Musée d’Orsay is commissioning films by Olivier Assayas, Hou Hsiao Hsien, Jim Jarmusch and Raoul Ruiz. The Centre Pompidou has enlisted Alain Fleischer to make a film on the occasion of its thirtieth anniversary. And the not-yet-opened Musée des Arts Premiers on Quai Branly has put Claire Denis in charge of a collective project by filmmakers from Africa and Oceania. Exhibitions on Walt Disney at the Grand Palais and Marilyn Monroe at Musée Maillol round out the picture ...

But it’s not only in France that this tendency can be felt. In Spain, the Centre de Cultura Contempor?nia de Barcelona devoted a show to the work of Abbas Kiarosami (and presents as part of its regular programme a different filmmaker every month in the Screen series). Examples can also be found in Germany. The Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich last year mounted an exhibition of the work of Pier Paolo Pasolini. The ZKM in Karlsruhe not only presents films on a regular basis; it has also acted as producer and contractor. For example, in co-operation with the Fondation Cartier it commissioned a documentary by Raymond Depardon (“7x3”, 2004) and one by Artavazd Peleschjan, who, without this ‘museum’ assistance, had been unable to make a new film for 15 years.

Also remarkable is the fact that, for what is probably the first time in German distribution history, a feature film distributor (Alamode, Munich) has shown a film exclusively in museums before it premiered at the cinema: “The Cremaster Cycle” by Matthew Barney. This work could be viewed in museums including Museum Ludwig in Cologne and the Sprengel Museum in Hanover before it played at a few selected cinemas.

Less surprising is the fact that works by film artists and visual artists working with film can be found increasingly frequently in exhibitions and galleries. Here are some current examples: Films by Pierre Huyghe will be shown to mark the reopening of the Musée d’Art Moderne (Paris). A solo exhibition of the work of Isaac Julien was just put on in Germany (Kestnergesellschaft Hanover). A solo exhibition of the work of Salla Tykkä is currently on view at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris), which follows a show focusing on Brazilian filmmaker Wagner Morales. Videos and photographs by Tracey Moffatt are being featured at the L.A. Gallery in Beijing. And in September, the Kunstverein Heidelberg will present films by Ursula Biemann, Matthias Müller, the Atlas Group and others as part of the exhibition “100 Tage=100 Videos”. Films by the Atlas Group can then be seen at the Nationalgalerie Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, presented by Walid Raad, along with works by Harun Farocki, Peter Greenaway and John Smith.

Opinions are still divided as to whether museums are today better prepared and better suited for the adequate presentation of films than cinemas themselves. Even Godard, who is considered a museum-hater, has now found his way there. For many film artists, economic necessity evidently leaves them no alternative but to accept the “Cinémamusée”.

Reinhard W. Wolf