Exposition « Triomphe, la nuit »

France’s emblematic monument, the Arc de Triomphe is often pictured in daylight. Yet since its construction, it has been the setting for major nocturnal ceremonies, events and gatherings. The exhibition ‘Triomphe, la nuit’, in partnership with the City of Paris, tells and explores this historical and contemporary dimension of the monument at night through an unprecedented iconographic and documentary display, paced by its lighting.

The exhibition ‘Triomphe, la nuit’, in partnership with the City of Paris, tells and explores this historical and contemporary dimension of the monument at night through an unprecedented iconographic and documentary display, paced by its lighting.

How does lighting transform heritage at night? Conceived as a monument bathed in daylight, the Arc de Triomphe found itself, from its inauguration in 1836, at the centre of a redefinition of nocturnal uses and representations. At nightfall, new imaginings – political, commemorative, popular – renew its perception through fireworks and grand, eventful light displays.

Heir to antiquity, the Arc nevertheless entered the technical age of the 19th century from its creation, with advances in gas and then electric lighting, in parallel with those of photography, which soon made it possible to capture the monument’s nocturnal image. From its terrace, another face of Paris comes into view: that of the City of Light, an urban light spectacle of which the monument is an integral part.

Curated by Viviana Gobbato-Guimendego and Isabelle Rouge Ducos, the exhibition reminds us that the Arc de Triomphe also exists at night, and shows how its nocturnal uses radically renew its perception and help build a different image of the monument.

Itinerary

The exhibition ‘Triomphe, la nuit’ continues the renewed cultural programme the Arc de Triomphe has enjoyed for several years and tells the monument’s story from a new angle – that of a little-known nocturnal history which nonetheless shaped it.

Thus, for the first time, an exhibition focuses on an emblematic historic monument of the ‘City of Light’ – the Arc de Triomphe – and the nocturnal events that helped forge its identity: memory, urban life, the arts, sport and sustainability.