Écrire l’histoire des expositions : réflexions sur la constitution d’un catalogue raisonné d’expositions

Abstract

Writing the history of exhibitions : reflections on the framing of a catalogue raisonné of exhibitions. If museum objects and artefacts need to be documented, how can we account for the work of the museum in its most visible form, namely the exhibition ? The article aims at questioning the notion of the catalogue, in its various forms, taking into account its recent evolution in respect to the exhibition. Indeed, is the principle of establishing the most complete inventory of the work of an artist or collection applicable to an institution production in the form of exhibitions ? The Centre Georges-Pompidou appears as an exemplary case study. In the framework of its program of research and globalization, this institution develops, since 2010, a reflection on exhibitions history. Analysing this initiative thought for facilitating the documentation and cataloguing of all exhibitions while focusing on the critical success of past initiatives, will allow us to consider the exhibition as a cultural object that can be historically put into perspective.