Category: Albert Kahn Museum

Whenever I am in the city, I like to think I can reach my home by just getting in my car and driving off. While in France, I have found it difficult to be able to imagine myself not being surrounded by buildings, not being able to see more than down a perfect street with no buildings for at least a mile in front of me, but that is not the reality of Paris unless I travel away from the city. Maybe it is the fact I grew up in a city where there are many open spaces with high and low points, with no buildings that are next to each other covering up what is around me. Paris denies me the feel of the outside world beyond the limitations of buildings and trapped open spaces with seemingly happy people. Am I the fake person coming to Paris? Are we happy in the US or do I confide in the unfamiliarity of this new place I never expected to visit? The Albert Khan Garden: open and yet surrounded by the city. Most people can think beyond the line of reality and imagine themselves being in a limitless space because it is green. Even the buildings have limits and so does the mind. I can’t imagine what the rest does, I was still surrounded by buildings. Let me close my mind, breathe in, think, and imagine. I am in a garden, and it is limitless to an otherwise limited mind. Connections in my head and connections of people are happening everywhere around us with or without our consent. I am as limited as I let myself be, and the only enemy is the mind.

Why did you come to the Albert Kahn Garden?

Anna: We came because we’re boyfriend and girlfriend. I’m from France and he’s from Italy. (Lorenzo with a vape in hand) We met a couple of years ago but we meet up

What languages do you know?

We both know English, but I know French and a little bit of Spanish. Lorenzo obviously knows Italian but also studies other languages. Lorenzo: I know a little bit of French too but I find English to be the main language that everyone seems to know.

Anna and Lorenzo remind me that a lot of these places serve a purpose far beyond the intended use. Yes, it is a garden and as I have mentioned, it may be used to feel like an escape from reality of the city outside of or become something greater. However, this space serves more than a visiting site but to unite people to do an activity. We can communicate through many mediums and this garden serves as one. Everything has meaning if we give it one and I believe everything has a greater purpose than what it is meant to have.

Born in France on March 3rd, 1860, Albert Khan (Born Abraham Kahn) grew up to be a banker and a well-known philanthropist through his “Archives of the Planet” Photography project.

On June 16th, as a class, we went to the Albert-Kahn Museum and garden. The first thing I noticed was the large-scale and modern architecture of the museum itself. The entrance to the museum was under a cool extension of the building. As we walked into the exhibit, I noticed that it was not that big, that all the information was all right here in this one room. Learning about Albert Kahn and his “archives of the planet” project was very immersive. Thousands of photos are placed across the walls of the room, placing the scale of the project right in front of you. It makes you realize how much work was put into it. What I enjoyed about the museum was how they used technology to make the museum experience more enjoyable and immersive. They used screens in the center of the room that would respond to this interactive table that let you decide what to watch, and a table with like 30 semi-transparent photos of people he took photos of with a wire that you could plug in and out of different ports that let you know their occupation. Things like this are what catch my attention. I see why they made the museum this way. Because there is just so much to know about Albert Kahn but wall text and videos are just not enough to catch people’s attention these days. The museum provided ample information on Albert Kahn and its presentation was just as impressive.

In 1895, Albert bought a mansion that he had been renting out since 1892. He quickly began developing a large garden. The garden felt like a mix of a Japanese zen garden and a traditional European garden. These two styles blended very well and I never really noticed a certain point where the styles changed. The Garden had nice long pathways to smaller one-room buildings that held more archives and information about Kahn, his project, and the garden. This added a feeling that you were still in the museum and kept the flow of information pretty steady. It’s a good way in reminding the visitor that the garden is also a part of Kahn’s work. The Albert Kahn museum had plenty to offer and even though I was feeling a bit ill due to allergies, I definitely appreciated every moment.

 

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Kahn_(banquier)

Les Jardins du Monde is one of the legacies that French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn left behind. Located in Paris, France, the garden was created in 1895 by Kahn on the property in Boulogne-Billancourt that he had purchased in 1893. The garden, as it stands now, took about 30 years to be built. It rests on four hectares on the banks of the Seine. The garden features hundreds of plant species that includes rare varieties from 5 different continents, thus giving it its name Gardens of the World.

 

The Gardens of the World are not just gardens, they also include forests. The Great Forest truly captivates, and it made me forget that I was in a garden in Paris. It is composed of birch trees, cedar trees, conifers, and other deciduous trees. This forest resembles the Vosges Mountain region in France, which is near the place that Khan was born and grew up. The Golden Forest received its name from the yellow and golden hues of the spruce trees during the spring and the of the birch trees during the autumn. This forest is lined with a meadow of wildflowers. There is the Blue forest which has blue atlas cedars, Colorado blue pines, and a swamp.

The French Garden was constructed in 1895 by Henri and Achille Duchene, two prestigious landscapers at the time. This garden has an orchard with different types of fruit trees, rose bushes, various flower species, and linden and chestnut trees. The French Garden has a greenhouse that is made of iron and glass that is used for a winter garden. This garden follows the classical garden layout of the 17^th century.

The English Garden is full of greenery and is made to “imitate nature”. The flowerbeds in this garden are beautiful. The Garden many rocks, waterfalls, and a stream that flows across the garden into little ponds. There is a cottage that is one of the original buildings and a fountain with a carved image of La Fontaine fable.

The Japanese village and garden were created in the late 19^th century. The village has a tea house, two homes, and lanterns that were shipped from Japan all around. This garden was created by Fumiaki Takano. The garden is set to represent two things, the first being tradition and the second contemporary.  Both of these symbolize Kahn’s project of embracing and preserving culture around the world. The garden also features a bright red bridge, pond with lily pads all over, and streams crossing the stone paths all over.

The Gardens of the World are a tribute to Kahn’s work around the world. As we learned from the Archives of the Planet, Kahn believed that the world could come together in a sort of utopia. The different sections of the garden from around the world symbolize the different perceptions that exist around the world. The fact that these gardens all coexist next to each other shows that the world could also achieve this harmony on a larger scale. The garden attracts many people from around the world and is a place that three local Parisians, couple Audrée and Patrice Bernstein and their friend Frédérique Duplime, like to go to relax. Kahn was successful in bringing cultures together through this garden. “There is an English garden, a Japanese garden, a French garden… a lot of mixed culture in this garden,” said Patrice Bernstein.

Albert Kahn’s property was taken after his bank went bankrupt. During the time Kahn would continue to spend his time at the garden, which was now public property. The garden is now part of the museum and requires a ticket for entry, however, people continue to come to the garden. “It’s fresh and there is a lot of beautiful plants. Most of all it is peaceful,” said Audrée Bernstein.

The Gardens of the World is the constant reminder that it is okay to be different from the environment that surrounds you. “It is a very beautiful place,” said Frédérique Duplime. Les Jardins du Monde is breathtaking, but the true beauty lies in the way that this garden continues to foster and promote culture by bringing people from around the world together in a peaceful environment.

 

Sources:

The Albert-Kahn gardens

Albert Kahn Musée et Jardin

https://www.sortiraparis.com/arts-culture/walks/articles/220543-albert-kahn-museum-s-garden-takes-you-on-a-journey/lang/en

https://www.visitparisregion.com/en/albert-kahn-museum-gardens

 

Kessly Salinas is a rising senior at St. Edward’s University. She is majoring in Global Studies and minoring in Journalism and Digital Media.

The digital age has brought forth an overabundance of information, all readily accessible with the touch of a few buttons. This has allowed for a generation that is less nescient and more connected than its predecessors, but all the same, the rate at which content is produced also means that things can become ephemeral. They get lost among a sea of content, buried by a never-ending stream of new information. As we inch towards the future, preservation becomes a neglected process, the motivation for knowing the past slowly losing priority to knowing the present and future. The role of preservation in the 21st century is no longer confined to documenting things that will one day fade away but rather ones that already have. 

The Albert-Kahn Museum and Gardens is the perfect example of the importance of conserving history, culture, and memory. The museum is not dedicated to the memory of the French philanthropist Albert Kahn, its namesake, so much as as it is to his ambitious, 20th-century project, The Archives of the Planet. The project is an expansive photographic catalog of culture from 1909 to 1931. This venture allowed the people of time to visually witness different aspects of humanity for the first time. The obscure, relatively unknown Kahn and his project are now themselves being conserved in the museum, creating a meta relationship between the two elements. Almost a century after his death, the significance of preservation is present in both his work and now legacy. 

A banker by trade, Albert Kahn was less focused on success than he was in promoting cultural awareness and connection. Kahn began working as a bank clerk at 16 and rose higher in the company over time. It was here where he amassed his fortune that he used to fund the project for 22 years. Wanting to preserve cultures he believed would soon face extinction, he sent out photographers to different regions of the world to capture photos and film. The project resulted in almost 75,000 images and 100 hours of film in total, all of which are available online and some on display in the museum. The images from the project are displayed on the walls of the indoor exhibitions, as are labels and plaques detailing the items and additional information.  The photos depict people and landscapes, and when looking at them in person, you can’t help but feel an odd and visceral connection. It is almost as if the image is observing you back. 

As visitors walk through the museum, located in Boulogne-Billancourt, it is hard not to notice the quiet intimacy of the grounds. Patrons find themselves deeply immersed; the quietude is a sharp contrast to the din of noisy Parisian streets. Two locals, Roxanne Baratte and Jessica Baon, are outside exploring the elaborate garden, basking in the greenery that surrounds them. 

“The museum recently reopened after 5 years. It is so beautiful,” Baratte says, “ and it is a perfect place to find some peace.”

Both Baratte and Baon are surprised by my visit, given that I am a foreigner. The obscureness of the museum means that the majority of patrons are locals, or at least those with a foreknowledge of Kahn or the archive. Because of this, there is a lack of chaos and crowds that are typical of Paris museums, allowing for a richer and more intimate experience. It is easier to peruse the exhibitions, which are both indoors and outdoors, and gain a deep understanding of the archive. In contrast to other similar museums, the Albert-Kahn Museum and Gardens fully accomplishes what its namesake set out to do: educate the public and preserve memory.

Though unknown to most of the world, Albert Kahn paved the way for photojournalism and cultural and historical preservation. The Archives of the Planet conserved different cultures by photographing mundane, everyday moments that were equally captivating and relatable. Kahn and his archive sought to preserve dying or obscure cultures in the 1900s, and today, its own memory allows it to live on in a new, meaningful way. Among the excess and overflow of information today, it is worth taking the time to remember the past as it slowly slips away, following in Kahn’s footsteps and preventing the extinction of humanity as we know it. 

Andrea Cardenas is a rising senior majoring in Communication and minoring in Spanish. 

I have traveled all around the world, if you count a handful of states in America and a study abroad trip to Paris, France as traveling around the world. While I’m not well traveled yet, I would like to think that me running around Antarctica one week and then being served mojitos in Hawaii the next is in my near future. As I have been told by my family multiple times: I’m crazy, none of them understand my love for travel or the idea that I want to see the entire world. Every time I visit a new place, I feel a slight pain knowing that I will never know everybody’s go to coffee shop or favorite park. Knowing that I will never get to see every single part of the world is the equivalence to being told you can’t eat your entire plate after having been starving for days. I have never found someone else who shares, or is willing to admit they share, this feeling with me but I suspect that Albert Khan was a travel junkie just like me. Albert Khan was a banker and French philanthropist who in 1909 traveled to Japan on business and after returning home became inspired to collect “a photographic record of the entire Earth” (Albert Kahn (Banker)). This inspiration is now a 2,300 square meter museum where Kahn’s “Archives of the Planet” exhibition is in full effect (Stamberg).

During the Archives of the Planet projects length, which lasted from 1909-1931, Kahn and his photographers “collected 72,000 color photographs and 183,000 meters of film” (Albert Kahn). In total, they were able to document 50 countries and would have documented more if

 

 

Kahn had not gone bankrupt in 1931 due to the Great Depression (Albert Kahn). Years after the Great Depression, Kahn was never able to get his project on its feet again and unfortunately died in 1940 while France was under Nazi occupation (Albert Kahn (Banker)). Overall, Kahn wanted his work to “capture definitively all the aspects, practices, and methods of human activities whose absolute disappearance is merely a question of time” (Kahn,1912). He believed that this collection would bring people together and make them realize that we’re all more similar than we allow ourselves to believe. Kahn’s message is beautiful, but I suspect there is an underlying motive to his words. In my opinion, Kahn did complete this project to bring people together but also for personal gain. I suspect that after Kahn returned from his trip to Japan he came to the realization that the world is big and he wanted to see more of it, however one person in the year 2022 couldn’t possibly see it all so it is even less likely for a person in the early 1900’s. This is how Kahn got his great idea, he planned to travel the world through the images he collected. Even if he couldn’t go in person to see the countries, the images would help him experience that part of the world. Since fast travel wasn’t a possibility during the early 1900’s and pictures displaying places around the world were not common, Kahn’s idea would be considered new. It would be the first time anyone tried documenting how people around the world lived, which means everyone would be seeing these images for the first time even Kahn. While this is all a theory and nothing can be definitively proved, now that Kahn has passed away, I consider it safe to say that Kahn was a travel junkie at heart and wanted to see all the world had to offer in one way or another.

Another person with a travel junkie heart would be Jonah Esposito who was at the Albert Kahn museum garden section. It was striking seeing an 80 year old man sat down on a bench enjoying his vape. I walked up to him and saw his gaze shift over to me. He was warm and welcoming and I felt an ease as I engaged in conversation with him. He was from Italy but lived in Nice, France, one of my dream travel destinations. He was currently in Paris on holiday and was enjoying the museum on his time away. We talked about Paris and how he was enjoying it and what he’d seen so far. Eventually, we began discussing other travels we have taken and he mentioned how he’s been to Spain, Greece, Switzerland, and countless other European countries. As we were talking I thought about how we were completely different in every way but had a special connection through travel. In the same way Albert Kahn was a travel junkie, we too continue to be in modern day. I’m grateful for the museum as it continues to educate people and bring them together over the love for travel and exploration.

 

“Albert Kahn (Banker).” Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias, https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/5750926.

“Albert Kahn – Biography – Jewage.” JewAge Atom, https://www.jewage.org/wiki/en/Article:Albert_Kahn_-_Biography_2.

Stamberg, Susan L, et al. “Musée Départemental Albert-Kahn.” Paris Update, 25 Apr. 2022, https://www.parisupdate.com/musee-departemental-albert-kahn/.

Giselle is a rising senior at St. Edward’s University. She is an Environmental Science and policy major and a political science minor.

Born in Alsace, France in 1860, Albert Kahn grew up on the border of France, Germany, and Switzerland. At only ten years old, Kahn was just a child when the Franco-Prussian war broke out, which deeply affected him. Growing up with war constantly around him, Kahn understood the struggles and misfortunes of life. Instead of letting this pain demotivate him or shatter his hope for the world, he was led down a different path. He took this knowledge of the world and used it to connect others through passion and understanding.

While walking through the Albert Kahn museum and learning of Kahn’s life, I couldn’t help but think about all the people I know in my life and how there are so many other people in this world that I may never meet. I was reminded of a theory of the world that my grandma used to tell me about. She was convinced that everyone on Earth is tied to an invisible string. This string pulls you to where you need to be in life and leads you to all the people you are destined to meet. This theory of life explains the different ways of connection and relationships that humans have with each other.

I think Albert Kahn perfectly demonstrated this theory with his work. Through his photography, he not only captured the good and celebratory parts of life, but also the parts that some may want to forget. He purposefully created images of people struggling, of people in states of distress. Just like how our invisible string connects us to each other, Albert Kahn’s photos bring people together. They show what it means to be human.

I had the chance to talk to a couple who were sitting in the gardens of the museum. I did not talk to them for very long, but their story really stuck with me. While I didn’t catch their names, they seemed to have lived such interesting lives. The woman was from Paris and on a date with an Italian man. Despite their different home countries, they somehow found a way to meet each other. Perhaps it was their invisible string that pulled them together; something that sparked a desire in each of them that led to them falling in love. Perhaps it was my invisible string that pulled me to them; to spark up a short, but meaningful conversation that changed the trajectory of my day. Perhaps it was our invisible strings pulling us to each other, as we were both at the same museum, on the same day, looking the beautiful gardens and learning about the incredibly inspiring things that Albert Kahn did to help connect others.

https://museemagazine.com/features/2019/10/22/feature-albert-kahns-archives-of-the-planet

Sunlight casts a neon glow on green hedges that carve paths to the French garden. Narrow and quick, their ends reveal a 17th century geometric inspired storybook Eden. Dirt paths lined with flower beds lead you through thin wooden arches graced with vines and pink roses. Deeper into the garden a small orchard

houses various pears and apples. Beyond the French garden, around the greenhouse, following the brown wooden path lies the Vosges Forest. Filled with thick, deep green deciduous trees, this forest paid homage to Albert Kahn’s childhood. 

Original owner of the garden, Albert Kahn was a French banker turned philanthropist. In 1893 he purchased four-hectares in Boulogne, just outside of Paris, France showcases gardens from around the world.  

On the edge of Vosges forest is the meadow and Golden Forest. Filled with spruce and birch trees, the meadow is ruled by native and seasonal wildflowers. The diversity of plants continues into the Blue forest occupied with atlas cedars and Colorado spruces. The rest of the plants are native to the area. Beyond the forests rests the English garden, most noted for its variety of vegetation and fountains. The final garden is the staple image of all four- hectares: the Japanese garden.

On the other side of the rose filled French arches, resides a breath into Japanese serenity. Designed to model a traditional Japanese village, a stream filled with koi fish and lily pads relax the ears with the sound of water flowing against sunlight stricken crystal boulders. On one end of the stream, women sit on stones with Japanese umbrellas and pose near the school of koi fish for photos. Near them, two teenagers sit on rocks edging the water discussing their summer plans. Along the middle of the stream, a giant tree shades a couple of benches where a teenager is sketching. Right next to the tree, is the iconic red bridge. The bridge that appears on Google Images when you search the Albert Kahn garden. The bridge on all of the postcards and tote bags in the gift shop. In the middle of the afternoon, the red of the bridge brightened in the sunlight as fashion students posed on it. On the edge of the stream, couples stroll hand in hand while children run up and down patches of grass and hop on and off stones. 

The peace radiating throughout the gardens was no coincidence. Not only did the landscaping and flowers add natural harmony, but you could feel the essence of joy evaporate off of everyone present.   

I had the chance to speak with two women strolling in the garden, Brigid and Linda. Both frequented the gardens at different times in their lives. Brigid shared that as a child, six decades ago, she and her friends “[…] would play hide and seek in the Japanese garden. There were always lots of children here.” She said the garden mostly looks the same from her childhood, but it’s more refined now. And Linda, a former gardener herself, hasn’t been back in a long time. “I like looking at the plants and the land. It’s beautiful,” said Linda. When asked why they decided to come here today, Brigid said “We haven’t seen each other in a long time. And we both know and love this place.” 

While Albert Kahn intended for these gardens to showcase cultural garden diversity, it evolved into a place of mutual bliss among people. And that was the essence of Kahn himself. 

Kahn’s disposition to bring people together is demonstrated in his documentation journey entitled, “Archives of the Planet.” This project consisted of Kahn, geographers, philosophers, and photographers traveling around the world to document people, architecture, and cultures. While photography was the initial medium to record these things, the introduction of motion pictures found its way into this project as well. All of which was funded by Kahn, until he ran out of money. “The Archives of the Planet” occurred from 1909 to 1931. Kahn lost his fortune in the stock-market crash of 1929. 

Since Kahn’s project came to an abrupt halt, the Musee de Albert Kahn was created in 1986 to store the archives. The museum was built right outside of the gardens. Now, people of walks of life peruse “The Archives of the Planet” inside and the serenity of nature outside.