The exhibitions not to be missed in August
August has plenty to offer exhibition-wise. Here is our selection of must-sees for anyone staying in the Paris Region during that month. Whether your tastes are classic or modern, whether you’re looking for fashion or music, or to release your inner archaeologist or scientist… there is something for everyone!
Feel the noise
At some point, everyone has had a bit of a boogie to the music of Daft Punk. But the electro movement, so popular today, was born in almost total obscurity over 30 years ago. The exhibition Electro. From Kraftwerk to Daft Punk at the Philharmonie de Paris looks back at a movement that has transcended the bounds of music alone to become a fully fledged social phenomenon. And with a soundtrack specially created by the incomparable Laurent Garnier, what’s not to like?
Buried treasures
The Musée du Louvre’s exhibition Forgotten Kingdoms. From the Hittite Empire to the Arameans looks back at the history of the Hittite Empire, often overshadowed by the story of Ancient Egypt, its sworn rival. And yet Hittite civilisation dominated Anatolia and expanded its influence across the
Levant until around 1200 BCE. Rediscover the legendary sites of this great power, including the majestic ruins of Tell Halaf, near the modern-day border between Turkey and Syria. A breathtaking experience!
Dialogue at the summit
The Musée Picasso-Paris offers a unique dialogue between two towering figures of modern art, two of the most innovative men of the 20th century. What is the vacuum, the lack of space that the two artists tackled through their work, from silhouettes to abstract pieces? The Calder – Picasso exhibition explains it all.
The Pharaoh’s treasure
His name alone was enough to draw huge crowds in 1967 to what was dubbed at the time as the exhibition of the century. For a few weeks, the treasures of Tutankhamun are back in Paris, at the Grande Halle de la Villette, before being returned home to take up residence in the Great Egyptian Museum currently under construction in Giza. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to discover or rediscover these fabulous objects which helped build the legend of the most famous Pharaoh of
them all.
A romantic stroll
The Petit Palais is using the miracles of modern technology to offer you a stroll through 19th-century Paris. From the Tuileries to the Palais-Royal, from the Nouvelle-Athènes to Notre-Dame, the exhibition Romantic Paris, 1815-1848 will whisk you into a whirlwind of luxury and refinement,
rubbing shoulders with the greatest artists of the era, such as Liszt and Chopin, or stepping into literary salons attended by Gautier, Balzac and, of course, Victor Hugo… Paintings, sculptures,
drawings, garments and manuscripts are just some of the hundred or so works exhibited along the
way. Spectacular!
The art of prehistory
Prehistory at the Centre Pompidou ? Sounds like a strange fit, right? Wrong. From the very beginning of the 20th century, first artists and then society as a whole have been haunted by their “origins”, by
fantasies of what existed “before”. Turn back time with the likes of Picasso, Miró,Cézanne, Louise Bourgeois, Marguerite Duras, Ernst, Beuys, Giuseppe Penone and Miquel Barceló to discover the links between modern art and cave paintings. A modern enigma!
A woman among Impressionists
She rubbed shoulders with Monet, Degas and Renoir, but Berthe Morisot (1841-1895), a major figure in the Impressionist movement, and recognised in her time as one of the most innovative
artists around, is now much less well known than her illustrious friends. The Musée d’Orsay remedies this injustice with an exhibition that firmly establishes her role as a key figure in Impressionism and the development of modern art in Paris. She was, and remains, a vital figure in
the Parisian avant-garde of the 19th century.
Back in fashion!
Currently closed for renovations, the Palais Galliera, Paris’s temple of fashion, sets up home for the summer at the Musée Bourdelle for a brand new exhibition on an original subject: the back in fashion. Prêt-à-porter, haute couture, uniforms and work clothes are displayed in the former workshop of Antoine Bourdelle, as Back side brings the sculptor’s works face to face – or rather, back to back – with those of the biggest names in fashion.
Van Gogh in the spotlight
After its dazzling exhibition devoted to Klimt, the Atelier des Lumières takes you into the outlandish, chaotic and poetic world of Vincent Van Gogh. As you wander among the paintings projected onto
every inch of this 1500m² space, you are thrust into the midst of his creative genius. Van Gogh, Starry Night takes you on a journey through the prolific output of the tormented artist, from The
Apple Eaters (1885), to Sunflowers (1888), to Starry Night (1889). An immersive and breathtaking
visual and musical spectacle!
Music, musique
More than a simple exhibition, the Musée de l’histoire de l’immigration is offering a comprehensive musical and visual experience with Paris-Londres, Music Migrations. Guitars, clothes and
accessories, historical photos, concert posters, videos, music clips and archives tell the story of how waves of migration from the 1960s to the late 1980s transformed the musical and social landscape of the two capital cities. From Salif Keïta to Soul II Soul, from Fela Kuti to Khaled…
