Palais de la Porte d’Orée

The Fountain of the Porte d’Orée (Golden Gate) is near the Bois de Vincennes in the 12th arrondissement in southeastern Paris. The fountain has a number of cascading basins, but you have to imagine cascading water and water jets because right now the fountain is non-functioning; however, it is impressive, even in its state of neglect.

The fountain is flanked by palm trees, lending a tropical ambience to the landscape.

A closer view of the fountain   

Robert, sitting beside one of the stepped basins of the fountain 

A statue of Athena occupies the upper part of the fountain. 

Athena, Greek goddess of the hunt, is majestic, at about 16 feet high (5 meters) in bronze gilt. 

The virgin goddess is depicted holding a spear in her right hand, and Nike, the goddess of victory, is standing on her left hand. A shield is at her side.

 Wearing a Gallic helmet, Athena symbolized colonial and imperial France.

The statue was originally placed at the entrance to the Palais de la Porte d’Oréé, built for the International Exposition of 1931. She was titled La France apportant la paix et la prospérité aux colonies (France bringing peace and prosperity to the colonies.)

The Colonial Exposition exemplified Imperial France at the height of its power. At about 7/10 of a mile (1200 meters) long, a veritable city within the city, the exposition  had 6 miles (10 kilometers) of sign-posted paths. It took place from May to November, 1931, and attracted almost 8 million visitors. 

The French people were invited to “take a trip around the world in one day.” Each of the overseas French possessions was represented by a  pavilion inspired by its native architecture. The French government brought people from the colonies to Paris and had them create native arts and crafts and perform in grandly scaled reproductions of their native architectural styles such as huts or temples.* For example, Indochina was represented by a pavilion copying the spectacular dimensions of the Cambodian temple of Angkor Wat. The pavilion of French West Africa was inspired by the architecture of the great mosque in Mali. * Ethnological expositions are now a thing of the past. 

Wall map of the Colonial Exposition, 1931. 

The map of the exposition is on display in the Palais de la Porte Dorée. (Angkor Wat is right above Mercury’s knee. Mercury is the Greek god of financial gain, commerce & travelers.) The shield the woman (probably France) is holding displays  the coat of arms of the city of Paris: “She is tossed by the waves but does not sink.”

The Palais de la Porte d’Orée, an Art Deco building,  was intended to resemble a classical temple, and the façade is covered with two hundred and fifty figures of people and animals. It now houses the Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration, as well as a tropical aquarium in its basement.

The art installation in the foreground is the sculpture, Swimming in Happiness, by Senegalese sculptor, Diadji Diop. You can‘t NOT notice it, and how it ended up here is anyone’s guess.

Lions guarding the boundary gate of the museum

Palace entry

Palace entry

Alfred Janniot’s bas-relief took four months of work for a team of sculptors and measures 290 feet by 46 feet (eighty-eight by fourteen meters). It presents idealized conditions of life in France’s overseas territories, with natives happily engaged in manual labor surrounded by the raw materials each region provided, from coal to coconut oil.

Enthroned above the doorway, France is represented as an allegorical figure symbolizing Abundance towards whom everything converges.

The colonies of North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa (countries south of the Sahara Desert) are depicted to the left of the main entrance. 

The Asian colonies are depicted to the right of the main entrance.

The terrace in front of the palace can only be described as “funky.” There is a stage for concerts and DJ sets, a dance floor and a disco ball, as well as two bars, a wine trailer, a food truck that changes every day and a huge double-decker bus, like in London.

Wine bar on the terrace

Double-decker bus on the terrace

Wine bar on the terrace

The most interesting parts of the Palais d’Orée are on the main floor and open to the public, free of charge. At either end of the main floor are well-preserved reception rooms from the Exposition. These two rooms illustrate the main aspects of the civilizations of Africa and Asia.

Marshall Lyautey’s reception room

This salon served as a reception room for Marshall Lyautey, General Commissioner of the Colonial Exposition. Cabinetmaker Eugène Printz (1889-1948) supplied the two large doors of Gabonese palm wood called “patawa” and marquetry flooring made from three different types of colonial wood, including mahogany.

   

The theme of the room’s frescoes is the arts, religions and economic contributions of Asia.

The panels of Marshall Lyautey’s reception room illustrate the founders of three great Asian religions: the Hindu god Krishna playing the flute in the forest, the Buddha in meditation and Confucius teaching his disciples. 

Confucius teaching his disciples

Paul Reynaud’s reception room

Dedicated to the French African colonies’ intellectual and artistic contributions to France, this salon was a used as a reception room by Paul Reynaud, then Minister of the Colonies.

The room’s frescoes were painted by Louis Bouquet (1885-1952) and refer to the contributions to France of Sub-Saharan Africa and North African countries.

The bronze busts presented in showcases or on stands were the work of artists such as Anna Quinquaud or Gaston Broquet and represent the production of colonial academic artists of the period

In the mural on the right, the stereotyped view in vogue in the 1930s associated a so-called “black” Africa with the body, nudity and dance. The mural on the left highlights contributions of the Arab-Muslim civilization of  North Africa.

Museum dedication plaque:

M. François Hollande, President of the Republic, inaugurated on December 15, 2014, 

the National Museum of the History of Immigration.

At the center of the palace is a large hall, the Forum, designed as an open courtyard. It was used to celebrate colonial policy with official receptions and events during the International Exposition. Frescoes cover the walls, many of which are allegorical. They show the nation as supported by its Asian, Pacific, African and American colonies. The floor is elaborately tiled.

May 6, 1931, This building was inaugurated by Pierre-Paul-Henri-Gaston Doumergue, (13th) President of the Republic, Paul Reynaud, being the Minister of the Colonies, Marshall Lyautey General Commissioner of the International Colonial Exposition.

Océanocide

By chance, I visited the palace on World Oceans Day, which takes place every 8th of June.  Its purpose is to make people aware of the necessity to protect and preserve our oceans because we are over fishing them and filling them with rubbish

The art installation by Caroline Desnoettes, Océanocide, is a life-size installation of a whale tail diving into a plastic ocean surrounded by debris found in the ocean. It is almost 20’x 20’, made of wood, wire mesh and emergency blankets.

From the ocean escape les chants (songs) of a variety of cetaceans : whale, sperm whale, dolphin, pilot whale, beluga, humpback whale, narwhal and killer whale. These "songs" were recorded and edited by bio-acoustician Olivier Adam. 

The juxtaposition of the beauty of the sculpture with  the terrible garbage surrounding it is striking.

Trade

Frescoes cover the walls and illustrate France’s contributions to the colonies. Each of these contributions is represented both by an allegory and scenes of daily life to illustrate it. People are shown living idyllically in order to remind visitors of colonial exports and to suppress suggestions of exploitation.

An allegory for Agriculture

An allegory for Peace

An allegory for Art (center) and Work (R) 

The fresco represents the influence of France on five continents: France is the central character with allegorical figures of four continents surrounding her (Vishnu on a white elephant = Asia; a woman on a grey elephant = Africa; two horses, one carrying Oceania and the other America, represented by a skyscraper.) France is holding Europe in her right hand and a dove, symbol of Peace, in her left.

An allegory for Justice

An allegory for Liberty

An allegory for Industry

The themes of the mosaic tile on the floor are derived from African and Asian mythology: dancing silhouettes of helmeted warriors, Buddhist elephants, serpent-dragons, Vishnu’s circle of fire, signs of longevity, dragons and peacocks.

A dancing silhouette of a helmeted warrior