Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac

On the banks of the Seine, near the Eiffel Tower, the Quai Branly Museum, dedicated to non-Western arts and civilisations, is one of the great Paris institutions. Adopting both a scientific and an artistic approach, it explores the cultures, religions and histories of countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, through 3,500 exceptional works.

The vast and airy museum was designed as an open space to allow visitors a more intense visual and sensorial experience. From here, you can explore the continent of Asia through showcases of costumes and finery, like Ainu dresses from Japan. Next, discover masks, sculptures and Aboriginal paintings from Oceania. The Americas section includes exhibits from the Pre-Columbian era to the present day, such as Native American headdresses and sculpted objects. Meanwhile, the Africa itinerary is made up of nearly 1,000 works, including the great Djennenke statue from Mali which dates from the 9th century. Films, texts and music accompany the visit to help explain and contextualise the works.

Adventures for all the family

There are numerous dedicated activities for children. Guided visits or narrated tales provide a fun way for young and old to take an excursion around the continents. There are also discovery workshops for younger ones to enjoy, while the adults explore the main collections. Here, they will head off on an adventure on an imaginary ship with the task of finding a collection of specific objects from each continent. For ages 7 and up, there are fun visiting programmes that allow children to pretend to be explorers.

Jean Nouvel designed the museum with aim of creating bridges between cultures and the finished result drew international acclaim. Outside, the museum’s 18-hectare garden, designed by Gilles Clément, takes visitors on a journey among hundreds of plants which surround the contemporary structure. Thanks to the building’s stilts, the greenery even stretches under the museum. On the Seine side, don’t forget to look up and admire the beautiful vertical garden, an incredible technical feat conceived by the botanist Patrick Blanc.

A dynamic cultural centre

Besides the collection, the museum is one of Paris’s key cultural centres and dance shows, concerts, performances and temporary exhibitions are regularly held here. It also has excellent refreshment facilities: the panoramic restaurant Les Ombres on the museum’s roof terrace delivers fine dining with a view over the Eiffel Tower, while the Café Jacques, open all day, provides a calm spot for a break, in the heart of the museum’s garden.

Discover the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac through one of the treasure hunts in the Paris Region Adventures application specially designed for families and downloadable free of charge