Two (or is that three?) new exhibitions about Paris of old and Paris underground…


The exhibition Les Misérables de Victor Hugo presents a new reading of Les Misérables where Paris turns out to be the principal character of Victor Hugo’s novel. Designed as a sort of roving investigation, the exhibition follows the theme and chronology of the novel, plunging the visitor right into the intrigue as you follow Jean Valjean, Cosette, Fantine or Marius… Paris of 1815 – 1833 comes to life with the help of around 220 paintings, photos, cards, etchings and other pieces of art, almost all taken from the museums’s rich collections.

As an assiduous walker around the city, Victor Hugo knew all its areas and monuments, but for his story he took a few liberties with reality, moving some sites, changing the description of some areas. From the Champs-Elysées to what is now the 3rd arrondissement, from the Marais to the exterior boulevards, from the Jardin du Luxembourg to Les Halles, the exhibition show which parts of Paris were reinvented by the author’s quill, and which were absolutely real. It also reveals some of Victor Hugo’s secrets to the public, divulging certain autobiographical events that served for the book.

The layout allows comparison between event in the novel and their modern setting, a sort of invitation to follow in the footsteps of Les Misérables. And talking of footsteps, a short walk away you will an extension of the exhibition at the maison de Victor Hugo at 6, place des Vosges. Called Les Misérables, an unknown novel? it mixes history and fiction, emotion and reflection and works from the 19th and 20th Centuries, in order to better understand the multiple voices of Victor Hugo’s work, which he himself judges as “one of the summits of my work, if not the highest”.

Anonyme, Petits ramoneurs se désaltérant à l’eau d’une pompe, sur le quai du Louvre, vers 1830 © Parisienne de photographie

The other exhibition at the Musée Carnavalet is called The Paris métro seen by Akemi Noguchi, presented as part of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of French-Japanese relations.

The visitor is invited to discover an underground world on near-deserted stations, populated only by ghostly trains and strange figures: a woman with a pig on a lead (La Chapelle), a girl pushing a hoop (Kléber), a horse rider (Gare d’Austerlitz) or a motorcyclist (Javel). Sometimes, the sea invades the tracks, and we are not surprised to see a couple of dolphins (Pont de l’Alma) or even a seal standing to attention, holding a bucket and brush, near a squadron of fighter planes (Châtelet-les Halles). Each station is an excuse for the artist to create a dreamlike microcosm taken from an association of ideas suggested by the name of the station, the area it is in, the posters that are there, or the artist’s own experiences.

Each scene show part of the platform and the name of the station always clearly visible. Certain details (signals, adverts or clothes) are often emphasised. Perhaps Akemi Noguchi’s original and subtle view of the Paris métro will change your view of it too?

Here’s all the essential information for the exhibitions Les Misérables de Victor Hugo and Le métro parisien vu par Akemi Noguchi at the Musée Carnavalet

When: 10th October 2008 – 1st February 2009
Where: Musée Carnavalet, 23 rue de Sévigné, 75003 Paris. Métro Saint Paul (line 4) ou Chemin Vert (line 8). Bus n°s 29, 69, 76 & 96
Opening hours: open every day except Mondays and public holidays from 10am – 6pm (last entrance at 5.30pm)
Admission: free for the “métro” exhibition, otherwise 5 euros for adults, 3.50 euros concessions
More information (in French): ici

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