Museum Stella Matutina, or Five-Year Adventure
The Museum Stella Matutina (Musée de France) offers a course in the history between the sugar and the island of Bourbon, which highlights the cultural and economic highlights of this island in the Indian Ocean. Recently a large-scale reconstruction of the Museum was completed. The team of L’Atelier architectes was in charge of all operations on site, including the ones of environmental remediation, restoration of machines and transport of heavy collection items from their locations in-situ. For the team of L’Atelier architectes, responsible for coordination with some forty companies it was a five-year adventure.
In the 17th century this island was called Bourbon in honor of European royal house of French origin, then several times changed its name, and since 1848 finally called Réunion. In the same year, slavery was abolished on the island, and hired workers from India and China began to work on the sugarcane plantations.
In the 19th century, The Meeting abandoned the cultivation of coffee to begin in the cane. It is mostly a human adventure: the men and women, who have allowed this agro-industry to exist, develop, innovate, and are placed at the heart of the Museum, a mirror of the society and of the identity of Réunion.
Historical data on settlement, slavery and indenture, life stories, collections of historical, ethnographic and technical, unusual objects, remains industrial, the testimonies of former workers, archive documents give life and relief to the scenography of memory, with the help of the multimedia tools the most recent.
Iconic building in the cultural and heritage landscape since 1991, the Museum of Stella Matutina, known as Musée de France, has witnessed a major renovation (37 329 m² of total built area and landscaping encompassing the museum and surrounding buildings). Driven by a new scientific and cultural program, this project has focused on both, the buildings of the original sugar factory, and the museum trail, with a set of enriched collections and the use of innovative multimedia and interactive technologies. The project implementation covered the rehabilitation of the buildings, restoration of the collection items and the museographical aspect.
Materials provided by L’Atelier architectes
Photography: © Herve Douris
Full content of this issue you can read here
The full version of the article can be read in our printed issue, also you can subscribe to the web-version of the magazine