Marseille's Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (Mucem) is celebrating motherhood throughout history and how the roles of mothers have been depicted in art.
For 4,000 years, the Mediterranean Sea has been shaping the image of mothers.
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From ancient goddesses to religious icons, motherhood is far more than a family affair, it's a political issue and a driving force in art.
Thus begins the journey into the 'Bonnes Mères' exhibition at Mucem, the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations in Marseille.
The maternal figure is inseparable from a powerful symbol watching over the coastal city. But here the curators have chosen to challenge this sacred, singular image and to embrace a far broader reality.
"We have questioned the notion of “good mothers”, explains Caroline Chenu**,** Mucem researcher and curator of the exhibition, since there is “la Bonne Mère”[the Holy Mother], well known in Marseille: this is Our Lady who protects, Our Lady who looks out and watches over the children of the city of Marseille. But we have put it into the plural, because a single woman can embody different forms of motherhood or maternal feeling, as motherhood encompasses all the thinking and experience that surround it."
A total of 350 works and objects from 20 countries around the Mediterranean, including 120 from the collections of the Marseille museum, have been brought together for the exhibition.
"It is not just about the mother–child bond in early childhood. We are also very much looking at the place of mothers in society, at what motherhood says about our societies and what mothers have to say about our society," says Anne-Cécile Mailfert, president of the Women’s Foundation and co-curator of the show. "What we fervently hope is that this exhibition can spill out beyond the walls of the Mucem, that the mother-goddesses escape from this exhibition and can also trigger a public debate on the place of mothers in general."
Breaking taboos
While the first steps through the exhibition confront visitors with stone goddesses, the tour quickly moves away from marble and towards flesh.
Here, the frozen image of the “ideal mother” shatters, giving way to the raw truth of bodies and the uniqueness of lived experience. With particularly immersive scenography, “Bonnes Mères” dares to go where silence too often prevails.
The exhibition does not simply show, it takes a stand: it directly breaks the taboos that still surround the condition of women. Perinatal bereavement, the loneliness of fertility journeys and terminations of pregnancy are brought out of the private sphere and turned into subjects for art and reflection.
By confronting these contemporary realities with archetypes from the past, the Mucem is offering more than a historical retrospective; it is throwing a real stone into the still waters of social debate. A much-needed public debate is opening up before our eyes: about the place of mothers in our cities, far from fantasy and as close as possible to human realities, in all their complexity and fragility.
“This exhibition really is for everyone. It is intended to speak to everyone and to pay tribute to mothers by talking plainly, without glossing over anything and without taboos, about all the realities of motherhood,” explains Anne-Cécile Mailfert.
It's a must-see exhibition to reconcile the sacred and the intimate and an opportunity to cast a fresh eye on those who, throughout history, have carried the world!
The Bonnes Mères exhibition is on show at the Mucem in Marseille until 31 August 2026.
