https://doi.org/10.1177/1359183517704550 Journal of Material Culture 1–21 © The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1359183517704550 journals.sagepub.com/home/mcu Journal of MATERIAL CULTURE A palace as legacy: The former French colonial museum – perspectives from the inside Anne Monjaret French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Paris, France Mélanie Roustan Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, Paris, France Abstract The Musée des Colonies was founded in 1931 in the Palais de la Porte Dorée, built for the Colonial Exhibition in Paris. Over the century, the lasting nature of the architecture has stood in counterpoint to the changing orientations of the museum as an institution, from arts to immigration. To what extent does the building continue to bear the stamp of its origins? Is a reversal of colonial material culture possible? This ethnography provides accounts of institutional discourses and employees’ memories collected by the authors, who have been conducting fieldwork on the site for 15 years. In focusing on permanent material culture (the building housing the museum) rather than on the circulation and changing status of collections, the authors provide an original take on colonial remains in France. They also set milestones on the specificities of permanency and monumentality in material culture approaches. Keywords architecture heritage, colonial museum, French anthropology, immigration, material culture Introduction On a cold Tuesday evening in February 2011, we arrive at the Palais de la Porte Dorée for the opening of an exhibition mounted by the Museum of the History of Immigration Corresponding author: Mélanie Roustan, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, 43 rue Buffon, bât. 135, 75005 Paris, France. Email: melanie.roustan@mnhn.fr 704550MCU 0 0 10.1177/1359183517704550Journal of Material CultureMonjaret and Roustan research-article 2017 Article