MEG, Musée d'ethnographie de Genève

Inaugurated in 2014 and awarded the European Museum Prize 2017 as "an excellent example of a living museum with a multicultural history open to all", the Ethnographic Museum surprises visitors with its ultra-modern architecture and innovative display that enhances the rare pieces of its rich collection, coming from all over the world.

The exhibit design

In addition to the permanent exhibition that addresses the history of the collections, ethnomusicology and the five continents, through masks, hairstyles, clothes, paintings, tools and totems, the museum offers a rich and ambitious calendar of activities with international appeal, including at least two temporary exhibitions to be held each year.
For this purpose, the museum wanted to equip itself with a “fleet” of dedicated display cases with great versatility in order to meet a wide range of needs, given the varied nature of the museum’s collection. The cases were also to be easy to use and quick to set up.

The display cases

The display cases, which were designed by the Atelier de Scénographie Pascal Payeur and created by Goppion, meet these needs perfectly – they are modular, able to be disassembled and assembled by groups even in large sizes, with the highest levels of preventative conservation thanks to a great level of airtightness and a passive climate control system (silica gel).
Each of the display cases has a flexible lighting system (lighting elements are placed with magnets on bars and can be moved – on the bottom or on the top - depending on display needs.
The various types of display cases (wall, island and table models) come from two distinct series:

- Q-class demountable display cases, able to be mounted and assembled in various configurations (in a line, in a square, in an L). A storage rack, which has been created specifically for the display cases and is supplied with them, makes it easier to store the pieces after they’ve been disassembled.

- C-class metal-framed cases, with rotating or tilting glass door and high airtightness.

Our display cases will first be used during “The Buddhism of Madame Butterfly” exhibition, which was inaugurated on Sept. 2015 with important works from the museum alongside pieces from other museums in Switzerland and Europe, including special participation by the Musée Guimet in Paris.