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A portrait of Saint Matthew, patron saint of customs officers, stands in the entrance of the National Customs Museum on Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux.
A publican known for collecting taxes, the evangelist symbolizes the historical roots of the profession since Antiquity.
He watches over the 600 pieces exhibited in these places, where even the stones are steeped in history.
Opened to the public on June 22, 1984, these galleries were built in the heart of the large hall of the Hôtel des Fermes du Roy, which was used to collect duties and taxes on goods arriving by the Garonne in the 18th century.
Renovated in 1982 and listed as a historical monument two years ago, this architecture signed Jacques Gabriel - which now houses the General Directorate of Customs and its national museum - is about to get a makeover.
The management has just chosen the project manager, winner of the call for tenders launched in September 2022 to carry out its interior renovation.
Objective: to highlight a greater number of works among the 13,500 acquired by seizures, auctions and donations which, for the most part, are not presented to the public for lack of space.
By leading
Le Figaro
through the maze that leads to the reserves - and whose precise location is secret - Aurélie Guichemerre, the museum's curator, is delighted with this project, which is bringing new life to Bordeaux culture.
The reserves take up more space than the museum itself because it is impossible to stack the preserved objects
Aurélie Guichemerre, curator of the National Customs Museum in Bordeaux
Each sealed cabinet, arranged by theme, conceals treasures.
In the first, spread out knives, sabers, bayonets and demilitarized rifles dating from the 20th century.
In a second hide about fifty archaeological pieces, most of them seized from smugglers.
In another, old laboratory instruments which allowed for example to control the alcohol density of drinks, while on a shelf, a cotton reel of the time, which was used to check the quality of the thread, is covered.
An entire room is filled with over 150 uniform jackets, with the pants stored elsewhere.
Documentary archives and paintings too.
“
The storerooms take up more space than the museum itself because it is impossible to stack the preserved objects
», explains Aurélie Guichemerre.
Reserves of the National Customs Museum in Bordeaux
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A Salvador Dali recording to unveil
Between old road signs protected with plastic and empty frames ready to accommodate one of the archives that will be discovered during the major digitization that is in progress, a narwhal's rostrum more than two meters high reigns on its base spared by dust. .
In charge of the museum's collections, Céline Garcia still remembers the arrival in 2013 of this "
impressive
" work after a seizure on a boat containing objects from protected species.
Placed on the ground, this room which has fueled "
myths and legends about witchcraft and unicorns
", overlooks even the greatest visitors.
And this national museum which extends over 40 meters, framed by 16 clay pillars overhung by vaults, has much more to discover.
A few steps from his flagship painting,
Cabin of the Customs Officers, an afternoon effect by
Claude Monet and deposited by the Musée d'Orsay, is framed a penthière, the ancestor of the IGN maps, which was dedicated by Salvador Dali.
The customs officers who had interviewed him in 1974 for their internal newspaper recorded him.
An explosive audio document, in which the artist's eccentric personality is revealed, which the curator intends to present to visitors after the restructuring of the premises.
This penthium from Maureillas-las-Illas (Pyrénées-Orientales), dedicated to customs officers by Salvador Dali in 1974, will be highlighted during the redevelopment of the national customs museum in Bordeaux.
National Customs Museum / Alban Gilbert
Preparing to have a temporary exhibition hall and "
a coherent permanent exhibition space
", where the showcases that contain 2D works will be rearranged to create space, the customs administrations of France are reopening their coffers.
Recently arrived at the museum, the portfolios of fashion designs presented by the workshops of couturiers André Courrèges, Jacques Esterel and the winner Marie-Louise Carven during a competition organized in 1992 to reinvent the uniforms of this body which became military in time of war, should thus be the subject of an exhibition in its own right.
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Other objects, possessed in several copies in the reserves, could also be offered to the touch of visitors in order to promote their sensory experience, while the little-known documentation room where the archives are accessible to the public by appointment, will be honour.
Scheduled for early April, the works will mean the museum is closed until June 2024 so that it reopens just in time to celebrate its 40th anniversary.
While everything remains to be done and thought out with the project manager, whose identity will be revealed within a fortnight, the curator of the premises, Aurélie Guichemerre, is already formulating the desire to resist a modern temptation: "
We , we don't want an all-digital museum
".
The interior renovation of the Bordeaux National Customs Museum will enhance its documentation room, where the archives are accessible to the public by appointment.
Marie-Hélène Hérouart / Le Figaro