Décryptages - Enfance(s), grandir quelque part - EXPOSITION

For this 2026 edition of Décryptages, Cosmopolis guides us along the pathways of the world of children.

How do children perceive the world? How does the world perceive children? Growing up somewhere means evolving within a given geographical, historical and social context, which strongly shapes personal development.

From early childhood through to adolescence and the onset of adulthood, children go through a wide variety of experiences that shape their view of the world and their socialization.

The very conception of childhood is constantly evolving: the perspective on children is changing and becoming more political, particularly through the lens of the fight against violence against children.

Since 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has recognized the specific needs of children and advocated for their best interests.

Yet it must be acknowledged that the effective implementation of their rights is far from guaranteed, and that in France as internationally, defending them is a major challenge for the world to come.

The exhibition is a journey built across several continents focusing on childhood, offering a diversity of perspectives – artistic, photographic, historical – on this period of life, its materiality, and its imaginaries.

What do objects tell us about the world in which children grow up? In his series My Favorite Toys, Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti presents a gallery of portraits of children posing with their most prized possessions.

His work, begun in 2009 and published in France by the publishing house Les Grandes Personnes, is the fruit of long-term research in various countries, bearing witness to the diversity of childhood experiences.

The materiality of childhood is also explored through an ephemeral collection put together by Nantes-based associations that partner with Cosmopolis.

Whether related to school, food or certain rituals, these childhood objects tell tales of cultural singularities and resonate with one another