THE HIDDEN SIDE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT. A BUFFON-LINNÉ EXHIBITION TO BE TAKEN WITH A PINCH OF SALT

The Buffon Museum in Montbard aims to soon reunite the two great naturalists, Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, and Karl von Linné. However, mention of the project raises the “complex” question of theories about humanity developed by scientists and reused, particularly by authoritarian regimes. While Buffon has relatively flown under the radar, Linnaeus was heavily criticized in both Sweden and England during the Black Lives Matter movement. The reason was his categorizing humanity into four varieties. These were quickly named and understood as “races,” making Linnaeus “the founding father of scientific racism” and therefore of “modern racial thought.” The Swedish debate in 2020 was intense and raised the question of removing statues of the country's most famous scientist. Buffon, however, did not receive such treatment, which was rather reserved for Colbert. So, what narratives can we develop around these two Enlightenment scholars without obscuring these aspects and without this polarizing the exhibition? Already seen as scientists who are complete opposites, objects of clichés and a merciless duel that the era is so fond of, we would like to show the reflections and systems developed by the two figures, including on humans. Whether we like it or not, we will contribute to the construction of a memorial story and the staging used, in each of the exhibition contexts, will participate in this.