Exhibition "Alpine Refuges. From makeshift shelters to high-altitude tourism"

By the end of the 19th century, natural shelters were no longer sufficient for mountaineers, who built refuges at strategic points on their ascents. Built with materials found on the spot or assembled on the backs of men, they consisted of a single room with basic furnishings. Later, in the 1960s, the heliport revolutionised the architectural profile of the refuges, their comfort and their supply.
The guardians are the "soul" of their hut, and they pass on the values of sharing that still nourish our imagination. They welcome hikers, offer a hot meal, and alert the emergency services to a worrying delay. Recent constructions, concerned with energy autonomy, do not alter the image of this conviviality, but often irritate those nostalgic for the refuges of yesteryear.
Authenticity versus modernity? Are mountains becoming a lost paradise, as evidenced by the worrying melting of the glaciers?
For some, it remains a space of freedom, for others, who use the refuge as a place to go for a walk, it is also a wonderful place for leisure and cultural encounters. Photographs, videos, filmed portraits, an interactive map, models, prototypes of the Tonneau refuge by Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret and the Refuges of tomorrow created by Refuge Remix, enliven this exhibition.

The exhibition presented at the Maison forte de Hautetour, in Saint-Gervais in 2022-2023, was created at the Musée Dauphinois in Grenoble and was on view in 2020-2021. The partnership between these two institutions, which are strongly committed to the promotion of mountain heritage, now allows the exhibition to have a new visibility in the heart of the Mont Blanc massif.

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