Digital museum brings French masterpieces to Amman

AMMAN — Ambassador of France to Jordan Véronique Vouland-Aneini on Wednesday launched the “Micro-Folie” cultural project at the French Institute of Jordan. 

The “Micro-Folie” project is a digital museum hosted by the French Institute that offers a dematerialised access to masterpieces displayed in major French cultural institutions, an embassy statement said. 

“Micro-Folie” also offers a cultural programme and workshops throughout the year. This virtual cultural space, which promotes art, creativity and innovation, is funded by the French Ministry of Culture and coordinated by La Villette, a renowned Parisian Institution, according to the statement. 

The French Institute of Jordan is one of the first three Institutes in the Middle East to host a digital museum. It will operate in Amman from October 2019 to June 2020 with the financial and technical support of Orange Jordan and SGBJ, read the statement.

The “Micro-Folie” project is a virtual art gallery where visitors can discover in High Definition more than 500 art pieces from 12 French cultural Institutions: Château de Versailles, Centre Pompidou, Le Louvre, Le musée national Picasso, le musée du Quai Branly, la Philharmonie de Paris, Universcience, la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, le Grand Palais (RMN – Grand Palais), le festival d’Avignon, l’Opéra de Paris and le musée d’Orsay, the statement said. 

Displayed on a screen, the masterpieces can be further explored on the synchronised tablets which also provide additional content and activities in several languages including French, English and Arabic. 

In addition to the museum, the “Micro-Folie” project will offer artistic workshops and an original cultural programme related to art all year long. 

 “Access to culture is key in order to understand other civilisations and to widen horizons. The virtual museum of the French Institute will facilitate this access by allowing Jordanians to discover major paintings and other world famous masterpieces displayed in French museums such as the Louvre.  I hope that Jordanian schools and pupils in particular will benefit from this project by visiting our digital museum,” the ambassador was quoted as saying during the launch ceremony.

The public opening will take place on Saturday at “Markaz Theatre” of the French Institute from 3pm to 5pm. Children and their parents are welcome for activities that will follow at 6pm.   

The museum will be open for free.  Group reservations can be made on the French Institute’s website, www.ifjordan.com, the statement said.