The exhibition “Bonnes Mères” explores Mediterranean motherhood as a social construct, a political issue, and an artistic subject through an immersive and diachronic journey retracing its history from Antiquity to the present day, in a constant dialogue between eras and artworks. From ancient mother goddesses to the Bonne Mère of Marseille, from patriotic mothers to contemporary artists, the exhibition examines representations of motherhood that are often burdened with expectations and reveals the plurality of maternal experiences.
The scenography is immersive and radiant, guiding visitors through a sensitive journey structured in three sections. “Bonnes Mères” opens with the imaginaries associated with traditional maternal figures, often idealized and mythologized. It then turns to the complex and singular realities of motherhood, sometimes invisible, revealing intimate experiences that have often remained unspoken – such as perinatal grief or abortion.
The exhibition concludes with a focus on transmission and the bonds between mother and child, deciphering codes and forms of mimicry.
As a final note, a wall of proverbs from across the Mediterranean basin about mothers and mothers-in-law, along with the CV of the “good mother” – who “works as if she had no children, and raises her children as if she had no work” – reflects popular perceptions and humorously reveals that while motherhood is plural and deeply personal, it is above all profoundly universal.
Ancient and contemporary works, small terracotta figures and large-scale paintings, film excerpts, monumental installations… 350 works compose this journey, around one hundred of which come from the ethnographic collections of the Mucem. Masterpieces punctuate the exhibition, ranging from Cécile Cornet to the Venuses of Prune Nourry, the Eos and Memnon cup by Douris and Kalliadès, Botticelli’s Madonna of the Pomegranate, a Blue Goddess by Niki de Saint Phalle, and Coração Independente by Joana Vasconcelos.
