Musée des arts et métiers

The Musée des Arts et Métiers, or MuAM, is a museum of science and technology, part of the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. Awarded the “Musée de France” label in 2002, it is a state museum under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

Founded in 1794 on a proposal by Abbé Grégoire to the National Convention, the Conservatoire des arts et métiers was originally an institution intended to train technicians and engineers using demonstrations carried out with scientific and technical objects. While the Cnam is today a major higher education and research institution, its museum preserves all the machines, models, and drawings that were used throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It continues to enrich its collections, notably with the National Mission for the Safeguarding of Contemporary Scientific and Technical Heritage, which has been entrusted to it since 2003 by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

This site is served by the Arts et Métiers metro station. The station was renovated in 1994, for the bicentenary of the Conservatoire, as an introduction to the museum, by Belgian cartoonist François Schuiten.