The Collections

A MUSEUM OF ART AND NAVIGATION HISTORY

GROUND AND 1ST FLOOR

From the moment human beings ventured out to sea, the sea became a vehicle for their stories. As a field of exploration, it carried their desire for conquest, their technical challenges and their thirst for knowledge. An object of fantasy and superstition, it was peopled with deities and fabulous monsters. As a transport network, it made possible exchanges between civilisations, trade and the mixing of cultures. A nourishing mother, it is now being exhausted by large-scale exploitation that threatens the future of humanity.

Across nearly 5,000 m² of exhibition space, the Musée Mer Marine traces a universal history of navigation from prehistory to the present day, recalling the military epics that changed the course of history, the expeditions that helped complete maps and encyclopaedias, and the technical feats that made it possible to build ever more efficient or luxuriously equipped ships.

This story is told alongside the art of each period, from sculpture to painting, photography and model making. For beyond the great naval battles and technical progress, the human adventure at sea is a history of art and culture: through the objects sailors brought back from their voyages, which artists copied and collectors gathered in their cabinets of curiosities; through the decoration of ships of every era, for aesthetic, religious or political reasons; through the reports compiled by the great explorers in atlases, scientific drawings and photographs; through the crafts developed by sailors the world over, who combined genuine artistic skill with their knowledge of navigation and the oceans; and through works simply inspired by the beauty of the sea, the imagery that surrounds it and the wish to preserve it. These visual and aesthetic witnesses to the mindset and imagination of each era punctuate the historical journey through the Musée Mer Marine.

BEYOND THE HORIZONS

Anchored on the edge of the Bassins à flot in Bordeaux, the Musée Mer Marine points the silhouette of its bow into a former working-class district on the banks of the Garonne, at the heart of the maritime history of a city that was, in the 19th century, one of the largest ports in Europe.

It is a museum because it houses a wide variety of collections and aims to preserve and pass on this historical heritage; it is also intended as a place of exchange and contemplation, in an exceptional set of exhibition rooms that give pride of place to art from every period.

Art is found as much in the shapes of shipbuilding as in the imagination and daily life of sailors.

A MUSEUM OF OCEAN DISCOVERY

2ND FLOOR

Discovering the world from the ocean!

This last part of the permanent exhibition is built on a constant dialogue between art and science. Visitors discover how the oceans have evolved from their formation to the present day, and are invited to place their own existence within the immense history of the marine world, its fauna and flora, now threatened by human activity.
Between extinct species and endangered ones, they discover the beauty and fragility of the marine ecosystem, and are also offered ways to help preserve it. Works by contemporary artists committed to the cause of the oceans bring this oceanographic journey to life, offering an intuitive way in that complements the scientific content.