press release - Ville de Genève

PRESS RELEASE
Objet
Exhibition
A Geneva globetrotter: Alfred Bertrand (1856-1924)
Musée d’ethnographie de Genève
From 9 February to 28 October 2007
As a young man of independent means who loved to travel and vigorously defended
Protestant missions, Alfred Bertrand (1856-1924) built up a large collection of photographs during his many journeys by sea and land. The exhibition “A Geneva globetrotter” presents an overview of his albums, which were left to the MEG, and considers how photography has been used, and to what ends, since the late 19th century to
the present day.
At a time when the European powers were asserting their industrial and military supremacy
over other continents, Alfred Bertrand was traveling to the four corners of the globe, bringing home photographic prints from professional studios. These images make up a vast
catalogue in which monuments rub shoulders with landscapes, “human types” with botanical and mineralogical oddities. From the time it first appeared, photography seems to have
had the uncanny ability faithfully to reproduce the appearance of all things and all beings.
The Sphinx still buried beneath the sand, Indians in Patagonia and Chinese street merchants – anyone and everyone could see them now. But were those images orchestrated,
so as to meet the expectations of a public always eager for exoticism? And is that not still
the case today?
Alfred Bertrand also travelled less well-known paths, exploring the country of the Ba-Rotse
armed with his own camera. He encountered material hardship, countless dangers and the
incomprehension of the natives, which he recalled in his autobiographical writings. Given
shelter by missionaries, he became the champion of their “civilizing work”. His field photographs, at least the few still with us, reflect his view of what for him was a totally new world.
But they also show that the Ba-Rotse were quick to understand that it was in their interest
to show the best possible image of themselves. Photography is never completely innocent.
In the context of southern Africa in the late 19th century, it became a factor in the battle for
control of the camera.
In this era of electronic media and mass tourism, images remain ambiguous. Although usually perceived as incontrovertible reflections of reality, they may be and are contrived, becoming the subjects of controversy and manipulation. Modern photo technology may bear
no resemblance to the techniques used over a century ago, but there appears to have been
remarkably little change in how we deal with the pictures we take.
An exceptional Geneva collection
Alfred Bertrand’s collection of photographs, which contains over 1,700 prints, is representative of the main studios Bertrand visited during his two world tours between 1878 and 1907.
Of a high standard and for the most part well preserved, the collection consists chiefly of
views of sites and curiosities in the countries Bertrand visited, and numerous images of
different types of people. There are very few pictures of major building projects or of events
in the happening.
Himself no dab hand at photography, Alfred Bertrand was not tempted to follow in the footsteps of his contemporaries. There are no portraits by England’s Julia Margaret Cameron,
no French or American pictorialist shots, and any pictures of nudes are included by sheer
accident. For Bertrand the photographs were documents; they no doubt served to illustrate
his lectures, but constituted above all a record, visual souvenirs of his travels that he filed in
topographical order in 15 large albums and several portfolios.
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TEXTS OF THE EXHIBITION HALLS
Corridor - A Geneva globetrotter: Alfred Bertrand (1856-1924)
A young man of independent means, a student of geography and an ardent defender of
Protestant missions, Alfred Bertrand built up a sizeable collection of photographs in the
course of his numerous travels and expeditions between 1874 and 1908. The exhibition
displays nearly 125 original prints selected from among the more than 1,700 photographs
bequeathed to the MEG, and considers how photography has been used, and to what
ends, since the mid-19th century to the present day.
Forays in daguerrotype
"Thanks to the startling accuracy of the daguerreotype, sites will no longer be reproduced
from drawings influenced by the taste of the painter". This sentence, drawn from the preface to Excursions daguerriennes, vues et monuments les plus remarquables du globe,
underscores the turning point marked by the invention of photography in the history of the
visual arts and the representation of the real world.
Published in Paris in 1842, Excursions daguerriennes was the first collection of pictures
reproduced using photogravure. It was only after 1880 that it became technically possible
to publish a photograph in a book. The daguerreotype, which is produced using a lightsensitive copper plate, allowed engravers to trace the outline of the subjects photographed
and to transfer it onto steel plates for printing.
“The tales of travellers, those keen purveyors of deceptive facts and omitted data, having
been debunked, the viewer will be surprised to see the genuine proportions of most celebrated monuments, famous sites and antique ruins expanded to cyclopean dimensions by
the hyperbolic accounts of tourists.”
Francis Wey, “De l’influence de l’héliographie sur les Beaux-arts”, La Lumière, 1851
Room 1 - The making of reality
From its inception, photography was accredited with the capacity faithfully to reproduce the
appearance of all things and all beings. In 1860, at a time when the Western powers were
asserting their authority over the other continents, European photographers started opening
photo studios in all parts of the world likely to attract the first tourists.
Mountain tops and cathedrals, Patagonian encampments and the tiny feet of a Chinese
woman: the great visual inventory of the planet had commenced. In 1880 in Florence, the
Alinari brothers had a catalogue of over 70,000 images of Italian monuments and works of
art, while in Beirut, the firm of Maison Bonfils sold 15,000 pictures and 9,000 stereoscopic
plates of “curiosities from throughout the Orient”.
The needs of science, the expectations of travellers and the length of time required to take
a picture meant that photography in fact “orchestrated” reality. The resulting images were
ambiguous: they reconstructed views that claimed to be authentic but in which observation
and fiction rubbed shoulders.
“Photography is much more than a mere passive recorder; it creates specific objects.”
Monique Sicard, La fabrique du regard, 1998
Monument "Alfred Bertrand - Explorer (1856-1924)"
Member of the Bureau of the Geneva Geographical Society
Member of the Royal Geographical Societies of London and Scotland
Member of the Geographical Society of Paris
Corresponding member of the geographical societies of Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Lisbon
and Neuchâtel, and of the society of African geography of Italy
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Alfred Louis Bertrand was born on 15 April 1856 in Geneva, the son of a Huguenot family
from Rouergue. As a boy he lived in Champel, in the villa he would one day bequeath to
the city. He was orphaned at an early age, and studied law. An ardent Anglophile and avid
sportsman, hunter and mountain climber, he embarked on the Grand Tour, an extended
voyage undertaken by the privileged few to complete their education.
Intrepid and curious, Bertrand set out on his first trip around the world at the age of 22. The
fortitude acquired as a captain in the army cavalry allowed him to leave the beaten path, to
go beyond the new outposts of the Empire and places only recently subdued. His friendship
with English Captain Reid took him hunting in Kashmir in 1882 and later to southern Africa,
where he participated in the exploration of one of the tributaries of the Zambezi river.
Bertrand’s life took on new meaning when he met missionary François Coillard in Zambezi
in 1895. Convinced of the benefit of Christian morality over pagan ignorance, from that
moment on he placed his time and fortune at the service of the civilizing work of Protestant
missions: he lectured as far abroad as Tokyo and Shanghai, and founded 120 “Zambezias”
to raise funds for the missions. Always eager to show others what he had seen, he took
charge of the Voyages and Exploration section of the National Fair held in 1896 in Geneva.
His marriage at the age of 50 to Alice-Emilie Noerbel, vice-president of the World Young
Women’s Christian Associations, only added to his commitment.
Bertrand witnessed the founding of the League of Nations; he, too, fought for recognition of
peoples, and opposed slavery and the trade in alcohol and opium. After his death on 30
January 1924, his widow continued his work, publishing excerpts from his diary. In accordance with his wishes, she deeded his ethnographical and natural history collections and
their magnificent 7-hectare property to the museums of the City of Geneva. Bertrand and
his wife are both buried at the cimetière des Rois, in Plainpalais.
Room 2 - In the country of the Ba-Rotse
Armed with his own camera, Alfred Bertrand set out to explore the country of the Ba-Rotse.
Given shelter by missionaries, he became the champion of their “civilizing work”. His photographs allow us to see, through his eyes, what for him was an entirely new world. But
they also show that the Ba-Rotse were quick to understand that it was in their interest to
present the best possible image of themselves.
Quotations (left side)
17 May 1895 – “We are obliged to carry a large number of objects of barter; above all,
white calico, glass beads of various colours and sizes, and blankets; for the last vestiges of
civilisation will soon be lost, and in the regions of Upper Zambezia, whither we are going,
money will possess no value.”
Alfred Bertrand, The Kingdom of the Barotsi, Upper Zambezia, 1899
Sunday, 30 June 1895, Kazungula – “I was present at the mission-church this morning, at
the service held for the natives by M. Jalla. I remarked the quietness and the sustained
attention of the congregation – about 200 men, women, and children – as well as the manner in which the hymns were sung.”
Alfred Bertrand, The Kingdom of the Barotsi, Upper Zambezia, 1899
“Mme Jalla has in her house (this and the church were constructed entirely by her husband) ten young native girls, whom she is so training as to become, in the future, mothers
of families able to bring up their children in turn, and to possess a home-life.”
Alfred Bertrand, The Kingdom of the Barotsi, Upper Zambezia, 1899
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“I plan to traverse the Kingdom of the Barotsi, in a north-westerly direction, crossing the
country situated between the rivers Machili and Lumbi which, in those parts, has also yet to
be explored, then to travel on to Lealuyi, capital of King Lewanika, and home to Mr. Coillard, the well-known missionary.”
Alfred Bertrand, Notes résumées sur un voyage d'exploration au pays des Ba-Rotse (Haut-Zambèze), 1897
4 August 1895 – “At nightfall I hear the deafening sound of a kind of elongated drum covered with skin, which music announces a dance for the night to the group of huts
neighbouring. Knowing that in a savage country these affairs are a cause of disorder, and
wishing to keep my men in hand, I forbade them to go to the dance. […] These negroes
must be treated as veritable children – that is to say with justice, but also with great firmness, otherwise desertion would soon begin.”
Alfred Bertrand, The Kingdom of the Barotsi, Upper Zambezia, 1899
17 August 1895 – “At last we perceived the missionary station, the church of which looks
like a lighthouse from a distance.”
Alfred Bertrand, The Kingdom of the Barotsi, Upper Zambezia, 1899
“It was in 1892 in Lealuyi that Mr. Coillard, the heroic, well-known French missionary, overcame extraordinary difficulties and founded a station in the stronghold of paganism.”
Alfred Bertrand, Notes résumées sur un voyage d'exploration au pays des Ba-Rotse (Haut-Zambèze), 1897
“Today Lewanika, the powerful king of the Barotsi, the sovereign of thirty tribes, the erstwhile man of war, the same Lewanika whose rule extends until the waters of the Zambezi
and the Congo divide, is opening his country to the influence of the Gospel.”
Alfred Bertrand, En Afrique avec le missionnaire Coillard, 1899
28 August 1896 – “The largest photograph reproduced here shows a comprehensive view
of the hall used to exhibit Mr. Bertrand’s riches. The others faithfully reflect the handiwork,
hardly common and hardly banal, of the Barotsi, the small black people who, encamped in
northern Zambezia in a picturesque and fertile region, is playing a role in the assuredly
recent history of the South African and is relatively civilised.”
Journal Officiel Illustré, Nos 32 – 28, August 1896, pp. 382-384 (National Fair, 1896)
Quotations (right side)
"It is now a commonplace among historians of Africa that neither the course of the partition
nor the nature of the subsequent colonial relationship can properly be understood without
reference to the objectives and motives of African as well as European rulers."
Gerald L. Caplan, "Barotseland’s scramble for protection", Journal of African History (X, 2), 1969
"Generally Lozi consider that their major laws are milao yabutu, laws of humankind, or milao yaNyambe, laws of God, and that they embody general principles of morality. They
believe that these laws and principles are of themselves obvious and self-evident to all
men, even the Whites."
Max Gluckman, The judicial process among the Barotse of Northern Rhodesia, 1955
"When the first missionary Francois Coillard arrived and taught Liwanika foreign but progressive ideas, this was opposed. His councellors [sic] tried to discourage Western education, technical and academic. The more they opposed, the more he made plans how best
he could keep schools run by missionaries. He appointed men of renown to sit on the
school councils at Lialuyi, Nalolo, Mabumba, Sinanga and Mwandi Sesheke. He instructed
those officers to spot any child who played truant. Those children who played truant were
reported to the Prime Minister, the Ngambela, who authorized corporal punishment… This
was one of King Liwanika’s strongest rules."
Yuyi W. Mupatu, Self-help at Makapulwa School: An Autobiography, 1968
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"Coillard (standing left) was a man who brooked no opposition. The hierarchical arrangment
of the photograph reflects his view of the Mission. In fact the private papers of several of
those in the picture reveal that inter-personal tensions were already high in the group ; and
within a few years, Coillard and/or his wife had quarelled irretrievably with everyone else
here pictured except the slow witted Scottish artisan William Waddel (seated far right)."
Gwyn Prins, "The Battle for Control of the Camera in Late Nineteenth Century Western Zambia", African Affairs
(Vol. 89, No. 354.), 1990
"Coillard was defeated by Lewanika on 22 March 1886 when, against his will and in order
to gain access to the country, he made a sacrifice at a royal tomb. Having lost metaphysical
predominance, Coillard’s mission was thereafter understood by the Lozi nation to be under
more than the King’s physical control. Among other things, Lewanika used Coillard as his
negociator with the next wave of Europeans, the agents of the British South Africa Company and the Crown."
Gwyn Prins, "The Battle for Control of the Camera in Late Nineteenth Century Western Zambia", African Affairs
(Vol. 89, No. 354.), 1990
"An examination of the political situation in the country as a whole suggests that Lewanika
was in a far stronger position in 1898 and 1900 than he was in 1890, and could then deal
with the whites as master in his own house."
Mutumba M. Bull, "Lewanika’s Achievement", The Journal of African History (Vol.13, No 3.), 1972
"To varying some degrees, these art forms served as ambassadors. Although Lewanika
and Yeta III would both travel to England, as would their successors, they could not remain
in the British Isles nor did they travel the world over. In their stead, works of art, from giant
xylophones to delicate ivory hair adornments came to represent Barotseland. These works
became the tangible envoys of Lozi pride and aspiring prominence in institutional arenas."
Karen Milbourne, Diplomacy in motion: art, pageantry and the politics of creativity in Barotseland, 2003
"Asked on his return home what he had talked to the King about, his reply was: ‘We kings
have lots to say to each other when we meet.’"
Stanley Jones, "Two African Co-potentates: Lewanika and Matauka", The Northern Rhodesia Journal (Vol. V,
No.4), 1964
Room 3 - Showing and being seen
In our era of electronic media and mass tourism, images embody the same ambiguity. Although usually perceived as incontrovertible reflections of reality, they are also contrived,
the subjects of controversy and manipulation.
Photography has become a routine part of our daily lives. Easier and less expensive, it is no
longer the exclusive domain of professionals and the upper classes. It is widely used for
private purposes, preferably to snap “natural” and “spontaneous” shots. We all pose, compose our own albums or blogs, offer or exchange the images we have bought or produced.
Our expanding communication networks have reinforced the trend, in which the line between private and public is sometimes blurred.
By attesting to actual experience (“I was there!”), by converting it into a souvenir or by reconstructing it, the “reality we make” in our albums, postcards and blogs says much about
the limits we set between ourselves, our group and others: these are all social practices that
draw on the symbolic resources afforded by each fresh technological advance. Photography
may have changed radically since the end of the 19th century, but have not our practices in
respect of images remained remarkably constant?
"Photography is not practiced by most people as an art. It is mainly a social rite, a defense
against anxiety, and a tool of power."
Susan Sontag, On Photography, 1977
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"As it became easier and easier to create images, in particular through photography, everyone was able to hold up images they had constructed or selected as a counterpoint to images of themselves they were displeased with. But today we have entered yet another
phase: there are so many images of each and every one of us that their effects cancel each
other out. There is nothing for us to do but to relegate to the world of images those which
bear our likeness, in other words to decide that they no longer represent us and that we
must establish how our identity – and that of others – is perceived on a different plane."
Serge Tisseron, L’intimité surexposée, 2001
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RENDEZ-VOUS AT THE MUSEUM
Exhibition
A Geneva globetrotter: Alfred Bertrand (1856-1924)
From 9 February to 28 October 2007
Inauguration
8 February 2007 at 18:00
Guided tours
First Sunday of every month at 11:00
Free
For groups
To register call +41 (0)22 418 45 90; [email protected]
For schools
Special guided tours for primary and secondary school pupils
Free for classes from the Canton of Geneva
To register call +41 (0)22 418 45 90; [email protected] at least two weeks before the
required date
Information and programme
T +41 (0)22 418 45 90
[email protected]
An extensive programme for adults and children is available on www.ville-ge.ch/meg
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PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Musée d’ethnographie de Genève
Bd Carl-Vogt 65 – 1205 Geneva
T +41 (0)22 418 45 50, fax +41 (0)22 418 45 51
[email protected]
www.ville-ge.ch/meg
Open every day from 10:00 to 17:00, closed on Mondays
Buses: 1, 32
Entry free of charge
Contacts:
Jacques Hainard, director, Musée d’ethnographie, +41 (0)22 418 45 50,
[email protected]
Philippe Mathez, curator, +41 (0)22 418 45 45,
[email protected]
Sylvie Clément Gonvers, in charge of communication, +41 (0)22 418 45 73,
[email protected]
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Directeur
Jacques Hainard
Commissaire
Philippe Mathez,
avec l'étroite collaboration de Nicolas Crispini et de Dominique Schoeni
Conception
Nicolas Crispini, Philippe Mathez, Geneviève Perret, Dominique Schoeni,
Johnathan Watts
Recherches
Nicolas Crispini, Geneviève Perret, Dominique Schoeni,
avec le concours de Majan Garlinski
Chef d'équipe atelier
Jean-Pierre Wanner
Menuiserie
Marco Aresu, Jérôme Jousson, Giacomo Porta (Les z'ateliers)
Décoration
Anne Bory, Jean-Pierre Peney, Jean-Pierre Wanner
Lettrages
Jean-Pierre Peney, Philippe Richard (Atelier Richard)
Peinture
Philippe Racine, Christian Rochat
Electricité et éclairage
Gianni Leonelli
Application multimédia
Grégoire de Ceuninck
Photographies et vidéo
Johnathan Watts
Communication et promotion
Sylvie Clément Gonvers
Graphisme affiche et dépliant
GVA Studio
Traductions
Adapta Traductions
Accueil des publics
Christine Détraz, Fabienne Finat, Sylvie Graa
Bibliothèque
Annabel Chanteraud, Anne Bertschy
Comptabilité et secrétariat
André Walther, Cendrine Hostettler, Philippe Neri, Monique Sunier
Surveillance et travaux divers
Jean-Daniel Bohren, Alain Borga, Marco Caldi, Gianni Leonelli, Christian Rochat,
Esperanza Rossel, Jerzy Zurek
Prêteurs
Bibliothèque de Genève, Magnum Photos
Remerciements
Manon Bari, Lydia Bertrand, Danielle Buyssens (Bibliothèque de Genève), Benoit Charron
et Gérard Kohler (Harsch Transports), Jacques Davier (Archives de la Ville de Genève),
Sabina Engel (Bibliothèque de Genève), Livio Fornara (Centre d'iconographie genevoise),
Tom Gitterman, Evelyne Haeberli-Bertrand, Emma Hascoët et Andréa Holzer (Magnum
Photos), Charles Isaacs, Olivier Matthews et Susan Mutti (Adapta Traductions), Karen E.
Milbourne (Baltimore Museum of Art), Gérald Minkoff, Béatrice Naef (Service information et
communication), Jean-Pierre Netz et ses collaboratrices, Martin Parr, Olivier Piguet (Prontophot), Roger Rosset (Archives de l'Etat de Genève), Barbara Roth (Bibliothèque de
Genève), Roland Simon (Dir. de l'aménagement du territoire, Etat de Genève), Giovanni
Sottocasa (Service des assurances de la Ville de Genève), Laurence Winthrop.
Ainsi que toutes celles et tous ceux qui auraient involontairement été oubliés.
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CAPTIONS AND PHOTO CREDITS
1.
Portrait d'Alfred Bertrand au Cachemire
Bourne & Shepherd, tirage à l'albumine, 1883
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHPH 53-06-03
2.
Mode de locomotion dans l'Ile de Madère
Auteur non identifié, tirage sur papier albuminé, vers 1875
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHPH 54-04-25
3.
Canal de Suez (3) [Gare de Kantara]
Att. Hippolyte Arnoux / St. Phot. Du canal de Suez, tirage sur papier albuminé, N° 169, vers
1870
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHPH 54-03-22
4.
Mormons baptisant des Indiens
Charles Savage, tirage sur papier albuminé, 1875
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHPH 54-05-28
5.
Benahrès - La grande mosquée d'Aurung-zèbe, et les ghâts où les corps morts sont brûlés
[Temple à Bénarès au bord du Gange]
Samuel Bourne, tirage sur papier albuminé, n° 1168, vers 1870
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHPH 53-03-32
6.
Campement de Patagons
Auteur non identifié, tirage sur papier albuminé, n° 41, vers 1875
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHPH 54-04-64
7.
Scène de famille [Empire chinois]
William Saunders, tirage sur papier albuminé, vers 1870
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHPH 54-01-22
8.
Famille malaise (Batavia) [Java]
Auteur non identifié, tirage sur papier albuminé, vers 1875
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHPH 60-02-15
9.
Le Sphinx et les pyramides
C.&G. Zangaki, tirage sur papier albuminé, N° 161, vers 1870
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHPH 59-07-39
10.
Un Japonais européanisé
Baron von Stillfried & Andersen, tirage à l'albumine, avant 1879
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHPH 53-05-07
11.
Some of my boys [Afrique australe]
Alfred Bertrand, tirage argentique, 1895
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHPH 61-01-06-54
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12.
Les princesses de Kanyé [Béchuana land, Afrique australe]
Alfred Bertrand, tirage argentique, 27 avril 1895
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHPH 61-01-04-36
13.
Grand Canyon, USA
Photo Martin Parr, 1987-1994
Martin Parr / Magnum Photos, Paris
14.
Lumière matinale au parc Bertrand, Genève
Photo Johnathan Watts, 2006
MEG
15.
Globe terrestre «Voyages et Explorations du Capitaine Alfred Bertrand de Genève».
La base est munie d'un système électrique qui fait tourner le globe et l'éclaire de l'intérieur
Fabrik-Marke Hobbing & Co. G.m.b.H., Berlin S.W.11, vers 1920
MEG, coll. Alfred Bertrand, inv. ETHEU 108685
Tous droits réservés en dehors de la promotion de l’exposition «Un Genevois autour du
monde, Alfred Bertrand (1856-1924)».
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