At the Bullfighting Cultures Museum in Nîmes, the passion for the collection

Souvenirs d'un film avec Louis de Funès.

A selection from the collection of 3,000 objects donated by the association of Friends of the Museum of Taurine Cultures, to be discovered in Nîmes.

For many aficionados, the passion for bullfighting goes hand in hand with that of collecting. It is not the Friends of the Museum of Taurine Cultures who will say the opposite…hellip; Launched in 1986, with the ambition of creating a bullfighting museum in Nîmes, the association has accumulated over the years 3,000 objects, deposited at the Bullfighting Cultures Museum when it opened in 2002. The funds have just been officially donated. It is part of the collections of a French museum and will therefore be protected and preserved like the Mona Lisa.

All summer long, the exhibition ’From Aficion to Collection" allows you to rediscover this history and the variety of pieces collected over the years, thanks to a selection made by Lisa Laborie-Barrière, museum curator and Jean-Marie Mercier, in charge of the collection.

A collection that continues

"The association has around 25 members, aficionados and collectors themselves", explains its president Michel Domergue. Discreetly, they constantly increase the collection, monitoring the auction rooms, bargaining… Or through donations. This is how the large photo of the alternative of Nimeno II by Michel Pradel, which hung for a long time at the Petite Bourse, joined the collections, just like a matador's costume for the 1977 Harvest.

After an evocation of the creation of the association and the first acquisitions, in particular the fund of a private museum in Sanlucar, the exhibition begins with bullfighting in Nîmes. It includes a large poster from 1898, photos by Charles Bernheim from the 1910s, drawings by Auguste Chabaud from life in the arenas of Nîmes in 1925, a portrait of Alain Montcouquiol by Jean-Pierre Formica, the preparatory work of Alain Clément for his poster, the golden book of the arenas that the matadors sign during their visit to the chapel… This accumulation shows the richness and diversity of this collection, which brings together textiles, works of art, archives…

A first room dedicated to Nîmes.

The presentation continues with a trip to the Camargue. Between a canvas painted by the manadier Jean Lafont, Super-8 images shot in the 1970s by Jacant or photos of Christian Chomel by Michel Naval, a bull iron designed by Claude Viallat for the association is revealed, which gave birth to fire marks on boxes of brie.

Bibliophilia plays an important part in the collection. In addition to the books, the exhibition presents a correspondence between Henry de Montherlant and Saint-Marc Jaffard, contemporary with the writing of the Bestiaires, published in 1925.

Magic lantern and cinema

The exhibition ends with a room bringing together recent acquisitions and an unusual selection. For example, the association has just acquired a costume by Sébastien Castella. To be discovered alongside an old magic lantern from 1880, a painting depicting Manolete on his deathbed by Luis Garcia Campos, drawings full of grace and humor of Albert Dubout or the memories of a little-known comedy filmed by Louis de Funès, Taxi, caravan and bullfight…

Drawings by Albert Dubout.

Until October 31. Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.-30 p.m. Bullfighting Cultures Museum, rue Alexandre-Ducros, Nîmes. 5 €, 3 €. 04 30 06 77 09.

Summer meetings

Throughout the summer, the Bullfighting Cultures Museum offers numerous events.

Guided tours of the exhibition, without reservation, Sundays July 21, August 4 and 18 4 p.m.

Dancer Chely La Torito presents Flamenka show in situ, Friday July 19 and Friday August 23, 10:30 a.m. &agrav; share with children &agrav; from 2 years (5 €).

Workshops “Finger Paintings” take place on Wednesdays July 24 and 31, August 7 and 14, and 10:30 a.m., discovery tour of the collections then workshop for children aged 2 to 30. 7 years old accompanied by their parents (5 €).

Information and reservations 04 30 06 77 09.