“People’s memories interest us and we take great care of them! The documents that everyone has at home can be added to the City’s collections, to supplement what we already have, to enrich the documentary memory preserved and to compensate for the silences of the collections”, underlines Aure Lecrès, deputy director of the Municipal Archives. . However, in terms of shops, there are very few things in the seven linear kilometers (twice around the ramparts) of public archives, whereas it is essential to talk about the life of a city. Hence the idea of launching a collection, in connection with the current exhibition presented by the Municipal Archives, “Storefronts and no doors”.
Inaugurated on Saturday September 17, for the European Heritage Days, it is well received by the public. Very visual, it presents a selection of 117 photos, drawings, extracts from directories, postcards, etc., kept in the Archives, giving pride of place to the image. The idea was to sweep the entire territory and a wide range of businesses that have now disappeared or are still in operation. So many shots conducive to awakening memories among visitors to Avignon and to have fun with the family, with the visit booklet, to find what the businesses that have disappeared have become. But with this exhibition, we voluntarily stay at the door of the shops…
To continue the work of research and memory on the commercial life of Avignon, the Archives therefore launched, at the beginning of February, a large collection of testimonies and documents of all types, on the businesses of the different districts of the city, from the end of the XIXe century to the present day. As they had already done for the exhibition “We remade the world, memories of 1968 in Avignon”.
“Shops weave neighborhood life”
“Shops weave the life and daily life of the neighborhoods. And when we talk about the history of the city and its inhabitants, talking about commercial life is central,” emphasizes Aure Lecrès. “What we would like with this collection of private archives and memories is to push the door of these shops, to discover their decorations and their stories and to meet the traders… We collect images, as well as documents such as account books or business receipt books, anecdotes, testimonials. And if this collection is successful, the City is considering an act 2 of this exhibition. »
To date, around fifteen people have contacted the archives, such as this man from Avignon, whose mother from Montfavétaine went shopping every day in the 1950s, because at the time there was no fridge or freezer, or supermarkets, but ice cream bread vendors! “It may seem anecdotal and yet it’s super interesting, because it shows how much practices have changed. It’s these little anecdotes that embody history and we love them,” says Aure Lecrès. If the Municipal Archives prefer to have the originals, which can always be consulted for loved ones and are safe, they can also digitize the originals and return the originals or the digitized documents to families who have a particular attachment to these documents.
The info in +
If you have anecdotes to share in Avignon shops or brands that have disappeared or are in operation, of a place where you bought an object that marked you, if you are a merchant, retired or active, or of a family of merchants and you have archives of an Avignon business or have memories to share, if you have photographs of a business that has marked you, if you want to tell about your habits in the Avignon businesses that you frequent, your exchanges with merchants and their employees, your wonder at their dream decor…, contact the Municipal Archives.
Contacts : 04.90.86.53.12, [email protected], www.archives.avignon.fr
Private photos enrich the Archives
Among the 117 photos of the 50 panels of the exhibition “Devantures et pas de porte”, many have already come from private archives (individuals, associations, companies, etc.). They are deployed in the interior courtyard and on the exterior walls of the building, rue Saluces, du Mont-de-Piété and de la Croix. “In the Municipal Archives are kept many documents of private origin, which make it possible to shed light on History in a different way”, underlines Aure Lecrès.
Among the most recent photos, the visitor can thus see some shots by the Avignon photographer, Thomas Bohl. They were made in 2016, as part of photo workshops he led for children from the youth culture center (holiday and leisure center). The artist donated all the photos from these workshops to the City (open fund).
The courtyard (exhibition), the museum space and the reading room are accessible Monday, from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., from Tuesday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to noon and from 1:30 p.m. 17 hours. On the street side, the exhibition is visible seven days a week and 24 hours a day.
