WORK HAS just begun in Marseille on building the Museum of Civilisations from Europe and the Mediterranean (MuCEM). It will be one of the highlights of the city designated European Capital of Culture 2013.
The MuCEM will be a museum dedicated to the cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean and will house collections from the Europe department of the Museum of Man in Paris along with treasures from other collections.
The MuCEM will be based in the Fort Saint-Jean which overlooks the port of Marseille, and an adjacent new building.
Other events planned for the port city’s year of culture include a festival of Arab and Mediterranean cinema, a circus arts spectacle and a literary festival marking the centenary of writer Albert Camus.
Each year two European countries are selected as capitals of culture and in 2013, Kosice in Slovakia shares the honour with Marseille.
This year, Turku in Finland and Tallinn in Estonia are the two capitals.