Le Fare Iamanaha - Musée de Tahiti et des Îles, au coeur d'une souveraineté culturelle en renouvellement

As an institutionalised place of culture, the Fare Iamanaha – Musée de Tahiti et des Îles (MTI) is undergoing an architectural and scientific renewal. The reopening of the museum (2023) was marked by returns of objects held in Paris, London and Cambridge, which led to new relationships between the MTI, mainland France and foreign museums. By allowing the circulation of collections, the former Polynesian Ministry of Culture asserted the role of ambassador of these objects when they are outside French Polynesia. In contrast to a cultural sovereignty based on restitution, the past Autonomist government and the MTI were arguing for a sovereignty shaped by the value of absence and the intensification of relationships between museums. The preparation of the collaborative exhibition Maro ‘ura. Un trésor polynésien (2021–2022, musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac), while promising the return of the presumed fragment of the “Wallis Maro ‘ura”, is an enlightening example of this policy.