Considered in recent years, the move of the International Museum of Arts Modestes (Miam), to larger premises in the east of the city, is no longer an option.
The Grand Miam is no longer invited to the table of municipal projects for the mandate which is beginning. However, the case had been in the works for several years. The International Museum of Modest Arts (Miam) of Sète had to leave its current location, quai Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, to join the eastern entrance to the city, and the project now on the rails of the BAZR – Chai Créatif.
“The Grand Miam project is no longer on the agenda”
Except that in the elements transmitted last week to our editorial staff during the presentation of the future cellar, no more Grand Miam on the horizon. The project is no longer part of the “creative pole” to come. When questioned, the culture assistant, Jeanne Corporon, was direct. “There will be a major Miam exhibition in the summer of 2028. I think we should leave it at that. The Grand Miam project is no longer on the agenda.”
Hervé Di Rosa (co-founder of Miam): “The big problem is the drop in subsidies”
“The idea of the Grand Miam? It was nice, but I knew it would never happen! We already have a lot of difficulty running the normal Miam, so… In a town of 45,000 inhabitants, we can’t ask for the moon. And that, the town hall has nothing to do with it. The big one The problem is the drop in subsidies. From the Drac, from the Region… There are no more budgets for culture, it’s terrible. So, we only have one exhibition per year. So, how do we build a museum that would cost €14? 000 m2, but I would never have signed without being certain that it was viable. Without patrons on the side, we would not have had the budgets. Ten or fifteen years ago, it was a great ambition, but today it is no longer necessary. room at the Moulins cellar, with the possibility of extraordinary exhibitions Every summer, or every other year, the Miam could present its exhibitions there, in a paid form. This is the option chosen today.
The Miam had to move into a space “four times bigger”hoped its co-founder, the artist Hervé Di Rosa. Since its creation in 2000, the museum has acquired between 5,000 and 7,000 pieces from donations or purchases. The main interest of this expansion was to deploy these collections. Even if, for several years, a solution has been found. That of making them travel to other cities, such as Montpellier, Anglet, Lisbon, Avignon, or even Marseille, recently (and to Cherbourg from June 5)…
Ups and downs
For three years, Hervé Di Rosa no longer hesitated to confide “his doubts” as for the creation of the Grand Miam. In November 2023, however, the visit to Sète by the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, to a territory then in full promotion of the candidacy for the title of European Capital of Culture, had given new impetus to the idea. Hervé Di Rosa, accompanied by François Commeinhes, took the opportunity to send messages to the minister. “This museum must be moved. There, we cannot have a shop, here we cannot have a bookstore… We are cramped, whereas we would like a more convivial space.”
The cost of the project estimated at eight figures
Finally, was this Grand Miam project too greedy? According to our information, the recent assessment of its cost would have reached eight figures… Not counting the operating budget. An amount incompatible with the current context of austerity. Contacted, the City of Sète confirms that the project, carried out at the time by François Commeinhes, is not included in the multi-annual investment program. On the other hand, in agreement with Hervé Di Rosa, it is now agreed that Miam will launch an exhibition every two years within the new cultural third place of Chai des Moulins. An “outside the walls†in addition to the current Miam, which will therefore continue to benefit from its location in the heart of the city. The publication of a book, covering all its collections for twenty-five years, is also planned for June. Miam…
A few weeks later, the Sète-Montpellier candidacy learned of its defeat. But would the victory for the title of Cultural Capital have changed anything in the destiny of Grand Miam? The induction of Hervé Di Rosa into the Academy of Fine Arts, in June 2024, seen as the fair reward for his work carried out with the Miam, could also have worked in favor of his major project. But there again, his appetite will not have been satisfied.
