As part of the 'AGORA, La place du musée' exhibition, the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco (NMNM) invited the publisher Editions Empire to design an open-ended work designed to give visitors and readers the opportunity to reflect on the processes involved in producing an exhibition catalogue and, more broadly, on the ways in which a heritage art collection is constructed and displayed. AGORA is the result.
Conceived as a kit that brings together all the components of a book – the bound structure, images and texts – this atypical catalogue enables every reader to make a unique copy, customised to their own sensibility. With contributions from Kathy Alliou, Christine Eyene and Emmanuele Quinz, this collaborative book showcases the different facets of the NMNM’s public program and renews the presentation of its various holdings.
A materialisation of the principle of building a collection and the means of promoting and sharing it with as many people as possible, this book also invites us to reconnect with the simple, playful joys of the vignette albums of our childhood.
NMNM/Editions Empire, 160pp, 21cm x 29cm, illustrated paperback with 61 sticker pages, English and French text, 2025