Burnishing its reputation as a culture capital, Paris is getting a new museum — an elegant elongated building near the Eiffel Tower for France's large and until now scattered collection of primitive art. The $263 million Musee du Quai Branly, which builders are racing to complete for its February 2006 opening, is President Jacques Chirac's pet project. The fan and defender of indigenous cultures is following the footsteps of other French leaders in leaving his imprint on the City of Light. Shortly after his election in 1995, Chirac asked his ministers for ideas for his legacy, and their brainstorming gave birth to the Quai Branly project, said Stephane Martin, the museum's president.
