Exhibitions

Senghor and the Arts. Reinventing the Universal puts into perspective the reflections and achievements in the cultural field of the Senegalese intellectual and statesman, President of Senegal from 1960 to 1980, Léopold Sédar Senghor (1909-2001). Pioneer of Négritude, a political and literary movement initiated with Aimé Césaire, Léon-Gontran Damas, Suzanne Césaire, Jane and Paulette Nardal, Senghor defended the idea of a civilization of the universal, shaped by the "rendezvous of giving and receiving". Under this metaphor of exchange, of "cultural crossbreeding", he expressed the hope of uniting traditions and engaging "the dialogue of cultures". By reinventing and de-Westernizing the notion of the universal, he affirms the role of Africa in writing its history. The exhibition looks back at Senegalese cultural policy and diplomacy in the aftermath of independence, its major achievements in the field of visual and performing arts, but also its limitations. Senghor's thought has not left the generations born after independence indifferent; it has been widely discussed, criticized and commented upon in the course of successive re-readings. From 07 Feb 2023 to 19 Nov 2023.

The exhibition "Ultime combat. Martial arts of Asia" invites you to dive into the martial arts of Asia, through their history, their philosophies, their spirituality and their practices, now spread throughout the world. A new light on Shaolin monks, samurais, warrior mythology and kung-fu. A journey that traces the origins of Asian martial arts, through ancient and contemporary works, with historical characters or fictional heroes. The itinerary is punctuated with references to popular arts and cultures, in particular to cinema, with the iconic figure of Bruce Lee, to literature, to manga and many others...

The exhibition focuses its attention on Asian ghost stories, delving into the world of spirits, terror and fantastic creatures as it takes visitors on a journey to the edges of reality, through religious art, theatre, cinema, contemporary design and manga. From Buddhist to J-Horror, from Hokusai prints to Pac-Man, from the Thai spirit culture to horror manga, the figure of the ghost has haunted the Asian imagination for centuries. In China, Thailand and Japan - the lands that the exhibition focuses on - the popular infatuation with terror is very real, and one that permeates a wide variety of cultural productions. From spirits that wander the forest, vengeful cat-women and hungry spirits that return from the dead ("the walking dead") to jumping vampires and yokaïs (supernatural creatures in Japanese folklore), these can appear in multiple guises and play on artistic periods and media.

Shedding light on the collection of paintings housed at the musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac. Some two hundred hitherto unseen works revealing the evolution of the Western perception of distant and not-so-distant populations, societies and territories over the centuries. From oneirism and naturalism, fantasy to documentary and romanticism to colonial propaganda, what we have here is a reflection of artistic and political history.

How has French popular culture portrayed foreign societies to the youngest members of society? What images and stories have guided their exploration of foreign countries and of the world in general?Looking at education and otherness through youth literature from the 19th century to the present day.

A journey across the Pacific to discover the island cultures and peoples of Oceania. From New-Guinea to Easter Island, from Hawaii to New Zealand, nearly 200 works provide an overview of the art of a continent, passing on both traditions and contemporary challenges. About the exhibition Not a single exhibition anywhere in the world has encompassed the cultures of Oceania in their entirety for thirty-five years. Oceania pays homage - two hundred and fifty years after the first voyage of James Cook in the Pacific - to the artistic creations of a continent composed of 25,000 islands. In bringing together 170 works from public and private collections, featuring several masterpieces that have never previously been Artwork to the general public, the exhibition charts the history, from Antiquity to the contemporary era, of a corpus of art that serves as a custodian of traditions and identities that have been shaken by trade, colonisation and forced evangelism. Across this vast, scattered territory, in which each archipelago, island and land has managed to preserve its own unique characteristics, artists nonetheless share universal questions, issues and reflections.

The Musée d’Orsay, the Musée de l’Orangerie, the musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac and The Museum of Modern Art, New York, pay tribute to Félix Fénéon (1861-1944), an important figure in the artistic world in the late 19th and early 20th century. Anarchist, art critic, editor, gallery director and collector, Fénéon espoused an open-minded vision of creation at a time when art was on the verge of the shift to modernity and strove for the recognition of non-western arts.

Tradition, pouvoir et culture sont au cœur de cette exposition dédiée à l’art des chefferies du Cameroun. Dans une perspective inédite, portée par l’association La Route des chefferies, elle aborde la culture des communautés et la préservation d’un patrimoine unique, historique et vivant. Du mardi 05 avril 2022 au dimanche 17 juillet 2022

Costumes éblouissants, rythmiques saccadées et joutes chantées : l’exposition rend hommage à l’extraordinaire créativité des Africains-Américains de Louisiane à travers les défilés de Black Indians. Quand la mémoire des ancêtres esclaves croise celle des communautés amérindiennes. Du mardi 04 octobre 2022 au dimanche 15 janvier 2023.

Depuis des millénaires, la mémoire des populations aborigènes d’Australie se propage à travers les paroles des anciens, des histoires que l’on conte en peinture, en cérémonies et en chants. Transmises de génération en génération, ces songlines – littéralement « chants des pistes »* – guident les pas des Aborigènes à travers le territoire et tout au long de leur vie, comme une véritable carte. Bien plus que des récits légendaires, ce sont de véritables corridors de savoirs, des chemins tracés au fil des millénaires qui renferment les règles fondamentales de la cohabitation sociale, et des connaissances écologiques, astronomiques ou géographiques essentielles à la survie. Construite en étroite collaboration avec les communautés, Songlines ne se contente pas de « donner à voir » des œuvres de création aborigène. À travers près de 200 pièces, créées par plus de 100 artistes, et une vingtaine de dispositifs immersifs (installations audiovisuelles, performances cérémonielles filmées, récits sonores…), l’exposition invite à faire l’expérience d’une perception aborigène du monde en suivant l’histoire de sept sœurs poursuivies par un puissant sorcier sur la terre et dans le ciel. L'une des épopées les plus populaires d'Australie que les aînés, véritables gardiens de la mémoire, ont choisi de nous confier.

Far from « The Walking Dead» and « World War Z», this exhibition reveals the fantasies, beliefs and fears behind the figure of the world's most famous 'undead'. Forget everything you think you know about zombies... A world away from the contagious undead of cinema and pop culture, the exhibition takes you to Haiti on the trail of a genuine myth. While the word 'zombie' (nzambi) is of African origin, designating a spirit or ghost of the dead, its meaning evolved considerably as it crossed the Atlantic during the slave trade, carried by the combination of traditional African, Caribbean and Catholic beliefs. In Haiti, the figure of the zombie takes shape on the fringes of Vodou culture through the practices of its secret societies – notably the bizango society – whose judicial role gives it the power of zombification. Tried and convicted, the zombie is in reality a criminal deprived of freedom, enslaved and kept in a stupor in the service of a master (bokor). Between fact and fiction, the exhibition reveals the realities behind the fear of this iconic 'undead'. The exhibition explores the construction of the myth in the Western collective imagination, from its evocation in 1697 in the novel by French writer Pierre-Corneille Blessebois to George A. Romero's legendary film, Night of the Living Dead. Romero's legendary film Night of the Living Dead. From Tuesday 08 October 2024 at Sunday 16 February 2025

1984, MoMA de New York : l’exposition Primitivism présente plus de 200 pièces d’Afrique, d’Océanie et d’Amérique aux côtés d’œuvres signées Picasso, Matisse, Nolde ou Giacometti. Elle place ainsi les arts extra-occidentaux en position de fairevaloir des avant-gardes occidentales qui leur auraient conféré leur statut d’œuvre d’art. C’est le point d’entrée de Philippe Dagen, commissaire de l’exposition Ex Africa, qui commence par rappeler que la notion de primitif demeure indissociable de la colonisation de l’Afrique et de l’appropriation par l’Occident de ce qu’il a très longtemps appelé « art nègre » et réduit à de beaux jeux de formes sans chercher à en com - prendre les significations et les symboles. Au fil d’un parcours explorant la création contemporaine sous toutes ses formes, l’exposition examine les relations qu’entretiennent la création actuelle et les arts africains anciens. Quelle mémoire commune est-elle au travail dans les ateliers d’Annette Messager, ORLAN, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Chéri Samba, Alun Be, Théo Mercier ou encore Emo de Medeiros ? Que sont devenues les références africaines désormais classiques dans le monde de la consommation visuelle mondialisée ? Comment ont-elles repris vie ? Quels sens politiques ou sociaux peuvent-elles porter quand elles sont réactivées par Myriam Mihindou, Kader Attia, Romuald Hazoumè ou Pascale Marthine Tayou, qui ont créé pour Ex Africa des œuvres nouvelles ?

From the Maghreb to Japan, a fabulous journey through time and space, discovering the mysterious and fascinating origins of gold and its marriage with the textile arts. The world's most precious and noble metal, an object of envy, a symbol of wealth and splendour, a sign of elegance and refinement... Discovered nearly 7,000 years ago, gold has never ceased to fascinate mankind. The ultimate material for all kinds of expertise, experimentation and tradition, it has been used since antiquity to make jewellery, ornaments and weapons. As early as the fifth millennium B.C., it was used to embellish the first luxury fabrics for men of power. Over the centuries that followed, skilled weavers and craftsmen Roman, Byzantine, Chinese, Persian and then Muslim used the most ingenious techniques to create veritable fabrics of art where silk or linen fibres were intertwined with gold threads and strips. From the first ornaments sewn onto the garments of the deceased to the flamboyant dresses of contemporary Chinese artist Guo Pei that are found throughout the exhibition, from the gold-woven silks of the Indian and Indonesian worlds to the glittering kimonos of the Edo era, this exhibition reveals the age-old history of gold in the textile arts. In a dialogue combining scientific discoveries and artistic perspectives, it unveils the dazzling beauty, diversity, richness and the technical nature of the outfits of a vast region from the Maghreb to Japan, including the countries of the Middle East, India, and China.

Since 1998, the creation date of the Musée du Quai Branly, more than 78,000 historical and contemporary items (objects and graphic and photographic works) have integrated public collections. Among these, major works, pieces completing a set or historically significant. Acquisitions carefully chosen, completing a heritage of nearly four centuries, merger of the collections of the Museum of Man and the National Museum of Arts of Africa and Oceania (MNAAO), as many promises of new looks and knowledge renewed for extra-European collections. Through the eyes of a dozen curators and professionals of the museum world, marked by a selection of nearly 500 works, an exhibition that unfolds for the first time the threads of an acquisition policy and reveals its scenes. From September 24, 2019 to January 26, 2020.

Lumière sur le 7e art ! L’exposition retrace un siècle d’histoire du cinéma indien depuis ses sources mythologiques et artistiques jusqu’au culte de ses acteurs et actrices, nouveaux dieux de l’écran.