At the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, this historic exhibition in which you are the hero is inspired by video games
The archaeo version… video game. At National Archeology Museum (MAN), in the castle of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines), it is – in part – by playing on your phone that you are currently discovering the Merovingian era. Until May 22, “The World of Clovis” invites visitors to become the heroes of the exhibition by writing their own story. With its hyperludic format and its four charismatic characters to embody, it is intended to address the interests of a well-targeted audience: that of adolescents and young adults.
“A bit of an escape game, a bit of a video game… In any case, we worked on everything in this idea”, explains Fanny Hamonic, in charge of collections from the early Middle Ages of the MAN and co-curator of the exhibition alongside Bruno Dumézil, professor of medieval history at the Sorbonne.
The two specialists have, for once, had to tackle the “unusual exercise” of inventing stories. The idea: “to bring in the fantasy”, but without going beyond the limits of the historical reality of the period. That goes for the visuals already, and these four heroes portrayed in a “scientifically rigorous yet alluring, epic, and narrative” way.
Depending on your choices, earn wealth and prestige points
Of the four “characters” offered at the start of the game, Médard and Bathilde are “much more popular”, one displaying all the attributes of a Frankish warrior, the other those of a princess. “All are inspired by real characters”, specifies the scientific curator.
This mini-mosaic of heroes, which also includes Geneviève “the brave” and Andarchius the Gallo-Roman peasant, is intended “to show that Merovingian society is not as fixed as we think and that we can have characters of very different origins who coexist on the same territory. We hardly imagine the mix that existed at the time.
It is first for our character to “take his first steps in life”. Each choice made by the player is illustrated by a vestige in the window, and makes it possible to obtain or lose prestige and wealth points. The goal is obviously to accumulate the maximum.
The public has “the right to choose, not to see everything”
If a certain logic is necessary, “we also reward the players who will make the most avant-garde choices, explains Fanny Hamonic. Even if it does not necessarily stick to the reign of Clovis ”. On the other hand, it is impossible to cheat by going back: “the objective is rather that the visitor redo the course”.
You then have to learn your trade, but also get married, “as a matter of social status”. And a crucial moment that is played “very young”. This is an opportunity to discover the fashion of the time at the time of putting on the ring on your finger, that “the symbolism of the Franc revolves around its military power”, while “on the feminine side, we will favor assets such as bracelets, necklaces”.
The moment comes when the family grows. It’s a wheel that randomly determines the number of descendants, a way of pinpointing the issue of high infant mortality. A tomb illustrates this.
By choosing a path, the player effectively ignores part of the expo. But the principle is assumed. “Personalizing the route is a way of telling the public that we have the right to choose, not to see everything in an exhibition, not to put everything on the same level, explains Fanny Hamonic. It is even encouraged. »
A historian working for Ubisoft invited to talk about the Vikings
Every story has an end, ours ends… in a tomb, right in the middle of the chapel of the castle. It remains to be seen in which our hero will rest. Haikel is smiling, he had “the most beautiful”. The 30-year-old, project manager for city policy in charge of neighborhood associations in Seine-Saint-Denis, had decided to embody Médard.
“I was badly advised on the last enigma, he says, smiling at Marion who accompanies him. But otherwise it’s ok, I did fine. I fought against the Ostrogoths, it brought me prestige and wealth. I ended up in a beautiful castle, I’m happy”.
Marion, who “obviously took Bathilde” ended up as manager of the royal gynaecium. At 33, the young woman has just resumed studying history. She discovered the exhibition by listening to a specialized podcast, “Passion médiéviste”. But rather than tapping on her phone, which she already has in hand “all day”, this resident of the 20th arrondis*****t of Paris preferred her character’s booklet, “because it makes a memory”. “And it’s reminiscent of the books we had when we were kids,” adds Haikel.
On the sidelines of the exhibition, the museum offers a series of conferences on the Middle Ages in video games. Because it is all the same to “make the share of things”, as underlines Fanny Hamonic. If the historian says she sees the game as “a gateway, a way of popularizing history” and recognizes “the tremendous work of the creators”, she also specifies that, very often, “the shoe pinches” in terms of ‘exactness.
This Wednesday at 6.30 p.m., it will be vikings around several specialists and a historian working on behalf of Ubisoft, a company that develops Assassin’s Creed video game series. Also note that admission will be exceptionally free from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“The World of Clovis”, at the National Archeology Museum until May 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed on Tuesdays). Price: 6 euros; free for under 26s.
