The Ecomuseum of George Henri Rivière

Georges Henri Rivière and Hugues de Varine coined the term ecomuseum in 1971. The original idea museums without walls is of Rivière, who had a multifaceted talent. He was a talented jazz pianist, voyager, ethologist, and museologist. He lived in Paris when revolutionary cultural political movements shook the entire society. Rivière was a collaborator of many journals that treated various topics, mixing art and science, philosophy and anthropology, surrealism and ethnography. The paper argues that the idea of making ecomuseums derived from Rivière’s passion for magazines, warehouse, music, and museums. This innovative vision did originate in the Parisian cultural milieu within which both Surrealism and Ethnography were borne, before distinguishing and separating in very different directions. Following his innovative ideas, French Museology grew, and even a New Museology could open the wings and make decisive cultural and scientific enhancements.