This is not a bottle!

18.11.2015 → 05.06.2016

Two museums are bring­ing together their collec­tions to cast new light on wine contain­ers. The shape of a wine bottle may seem unchange­able, but there are, and always have been, many possible vari­ations upon it. What links a wooden cup and a styl­ish carafe? What stor­ies could be told by age-old contain­ers and glass artworks? Through the exhib­i­tion and accom­pa­ny­ing public­a­tion, This Is Not a Bottle ! sets up an unex­pec­ted encounter between two worlds: those of ethno­logy and contem­por­ary creativ­ity.

This project was born out of a desire shared by the two insti­tu­tions. The mudac and the Musée valaisan de la Vigne et du Vin (Valais Museum of the Vine and Wine) have brought together both their collec­tions, enriched by loans from around Europe and the United States, and their perspect­ives on the bottle. They spot­light around sixty pieces, all of great cultural and artistic value. This dialogue between objects relat­ing to the histor­ies of wine and design also raises ques­tions around forms, usages and symbols.

The exhib­i­tion curat­ors have created inter­est­ing links between these varied wine contain­ers. You can see, for example, ancient kegs once used by thirsty peas­ants in the fields rubbing shoulders with port­able vessels by the Czech designer Tadeáš Podracký. Simil­arly a wooden birth­ing cup is presen­ted along­side the famous Strange Carafe by the sculptor Etienne Meneau… This carafe evokes a network of veins, a reminder of wine’s forti­fy­ing role. In para­phras­ing the painter Magrit­te’s famous Ceci n’est pas une pipe, the museums are chal­len­ging their visit­ors to consider the way these objects, which relate to the ways we see, drink and serve wine, are repres­en­ted.

The book This Is Not a Bottle! both celeb­rates this selec­tion of objects and imparts mean­ing to them. While the images illu­min­ate the beauty and unique nature of the contain­ers, the curat­ors’ words set the pieces back in their contexts. These recept­acles evolved along­side wine’s social func­tion and commer­cial devel­op­ment, until they reached the cylindrical form of the modern bottle. For their part, the design­ers and artists play humor­ously on the shapes and times. Published in an oblong format remin­is­cent of a bottle, this book is both eleg­ant and play­ful.

Julie Alland, Talisman-Sweetheart, 2005
Gonçalo Campos/FABRICA, Sede, 2009
Mariken Dumon, Wine Red Perfume – Atlas, 2011