Today, many museums both around the world and in Britain are in the process of renewing, rejuvenating, refurbishing and/or rebranding themselves. These museums are actually doing this in order to be able to respond better to the evolving needs and wants of consumers, which change continuously as a result of the transformations that take place in the consumer culture. The central aim of this thesis is to investigate the paradigm shifts happening in contemporary British museums, which evolve parallel to the evolving British consumer culture. These paradigm shifts actually seem to be a reflection of the paradigm shifts that are happening in 21st century museums all around the world, in general. Museums of today are highly interested in branding and they invest in it to a great extent. This is in part due to the effects of postmodernism on museums. This fondness for branding seems to turn museums into objects of consumption, makes them like other products in the market. Another aim of this thesis is to investigate how contemporary museums are defined as objects of consumption and managed as brands. For this purpose, Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM), a British museum situated in Exeter, which has been going through an inclusive refurbishment process for the last four years, has been selected for carrying out an extended case study on. Diverse data collection tools have been used such as participant and non-participant observations were made; in-depth interviews with especially staff members and also some other stakeholders like volunteers and visitors were carried out, photographs were taken; website of the museum was analysed; a lot of field notes were taken and then these data have been analysed. The RAMM example and also the literature review made on world museums in general have shown that the museums of the last century have got into the direction of uniting and co-creating value with their visitors, in their museums. This is a thorough democratization process in the museum. In order for this to take place, museums have taken the interaction and participation levels with their visitors much higher. Detailed accounts on these and other phenomena about new museums can be found in the thesis.

Cette recherche retrace l’histoire des envois de tableaux de l’État englobant les périodes du Directoire, du Consulat et de l’Empire. Grâce au dépouillement des archives publiques, la correspondance entre les acteurs locaux (maire et préfet, d’un côté) et les pouvoirs centraux(administration muséale et ministère de l’Intérieur, d’un autre côté) a pu être en grande partie reconstituée ; elle retrace la genèse de la naissance des musées de province. La suite chronologique de ces envois d’État de 1798 à 1814 prouve qu’il y a différents moments et différents types d’envois de tableaux. Seuls les envois issus de l’arrêté du 14 fructidor an IX (1er septembre 1801) et ceux issus de l’arrêté complémentaire du 16 fructidor an X (3 septembre 1802) se transformeront en création de musées lors de leur achèvement. Le récit et les aléas de l’histoire des envois donnent aussi un aperçu des convictions du ministre de l’Intérieur Jean-Antoine Chaptal (1756-1832) et de sa politique culturelle. Dès 1803, cette politique ministérielle sera parasitée par la gestion du Directeur général du Musée Napoléon, Dominique-Vivant Denon (1747-1825), qui, pour le moins, ne partage pas les positions du ministre. Parallèlement, germent les premiers bourgeons d’une politique culturelle préfectorale.L’intégration des trois villes de Bruxelles, Genève et Mayence dans la répartition artistique du14 fructidor an IX (1er septembre 1801) ne participe pas d’une politique d’assimilation ; elle relève clairement d’une volonté d’apaisement général de la Nation et d’un effort de réalisation de l’unité nationale chers surtout à Napoléon Bonaparte. / This study explores the distribution of paintings by the French government during the periods of the Directory, Consulate, and the Napoleonic Empire. An examination of public archives resulted in the reconstitution of correspondences between local officials (such as themayor and the prefect) and central powers (administrators at the Louvre Museum and the Minister of the Interior). This research highlights the particular policies of the Minister of the Interior Jean-Antoine Chaptal (1756-1832), and sheds light upon the birth of provincial museums (musées de province). The chronology of these national shipments of paintings from1798 to 1814 demonstrates that there are different moments and different kinds of cultural transfers. Only shipments issued under the decree of Fructidor 14 year IX (1 September 1801)and those of the additional order of Fructidor 16 year X (3 September 1802) resulted in the creation of museums upon completion. The history and vagaries of these shipments also reflect the ideology and political beliefs of Chaptal, author and initiator of these two decrees.From 1803 on, this ministerial policy was challenged by the Director of the NapoleonMuseum (Directeur général du Musée Napoléon), Dominique-Vivant Denon (1747-1825),who did not share the Minister’s point of view. At the same time, the first signs of prefectural cultural policy began to appear. The integration of the three towns, Brussels, Geneva and Mainz, under the artistic redistribution of Fructidor 14, was not so much a sign of political assimilation but rather a general desire to appease the nation and achieve national unity -especially important to Napoleon Bonaparte.