The 1914-1918 living museum, located in Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (Pas-de-Calais), is sold by its founder and collector David Barbiaux after almost forty years of activity. This private place includes two sites: the first in Neuville-Saint-Vaast, opened in 1987, and the second in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, inaugurated in 1991. It also has a restored trench of more than 1,000 meters, spread over three hectares. The collection, estimated at around 12,000 pieces, is kept in these three sets as well as in a reserve. In Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, the exhibition combines a historical section with traditional museography, reconstruction rooms and a diorama space.
David Barbiaux has decided to give in his collection after a life of research and enhancement. “The best would be that the collection is not dispersed, but the important thing is that they are enthusiasts who take care of objects, even if it amounts to dispersing them”he specifies to Journal des Arts. The sale of the museum can be dissociated from that of the collection. The collector wishes to keep only three personal pieces: the military booklets of his great-grandfather and his grandfather, as well as a fork that belonged to the latter, an object which he considers the origin of his interest in the memory of the war.
Reconstitution in the living museum 14-18 of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette.
© DR / Living Museum
His collection began in his childhood, at the age of six or eight years, when he still frequently found objects of the First World War in the fields, forests or ancient combat places. Aspiring to become a specialized curator, a project discouraged by his guidance counselor, he chose to create his own museum. He first collected objects in neighboring villages, especially in the granaries of farms, then on the flea markets. Its collection, then made up of helmets, uniforms and equipment, reflects the local history of the fighting in the trenches of the region. Thus, only one American rifle is counted among the 12,000 pieces, the United States not having fought in this sector. On the other hand, Canadian, British and Australian objects are there.
The museum has lent many objects for exhibitions – thirty -two in 2018 – as well as for films, including Goodbye up therein which the protagonist carries a helmet from the collection. David Barbiaux also gave in certain objects, such as the helmet of the grandfather captain of Philippe de Villiers, founder of Puy du Fou, to whom he also lent material for a spectacle devoted to the Great War. He also offered a German machine gun to Douaumont and medical equipment. He explains: “It is always better than an object returning to who it belongs, I am only the temporary owner of these objects. »»
The collection made it possible to retrace individual soldiers, thus helping to enrich the mediation of the place. The museum, located in the immediate vicinity of the largest necropolis in France where 40,000 soldiers of the First World War rest, will definitively close on December 31, 2025.
