Paris animal : the surprising free exhibition at the Pavillon de l'Arsenal, our photos

It's an exhibition that's worth a visit. Since March 29 and until September 3, 2023, the Pavillon de l'Arsenal in Paris is hosting the installation " Paris animal, history and story of a living city ". To be discovered on the first floor of the sumptuous building housed in a large 19th century metal hall, this free exhibition aims to make more visible the role and place of animals - whatever they are - in the history of the capital.

" The animal that we domesticate and the one we fear, the animal that we contemplate and the one we avoid, the animal that we fantasize and the one we ignore, visible, exposed or hidden, the animal lives with us " is written in the introduction of the installation. Through photographs, maps, models, archives and 44 stories, the exhibition " Paris animal " tells the construction of the capital, from antiquity to today, through the prism of the animal. The opportunity to better understand the mutual impact of this cohabitation between man and beast.

For, if dogs are the animals that we see the most in the streets of the capital today (there are 100,000 dogs in Paris), many other animals populate and have populated the City of Light.

In the Middle Ages, animals (chickens, pigs, goats...) and humans shared the same spaces and the same architecture. With the arrival of the Renaissance, animals were put at a distance and under control. This phenomenon became even more pronounced duringindustrialization, with the general slaughterhouses of La Villette, but also cowherds and dairies or the development of architectures dedicated to animals in shows (hippodromes, circuses...). Then, in recent years, we are witnessing the return of a new sharing of the city with certain animals (elaphe deer, sheep ...), while the ecological issues are multiplying. The Père-Lachaise cemetery, home to 140 species of wild animals and nearly 60 species of birds, is also a perfect example of the return of wildlife to Paris.

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Through a chronological tour, the exhibition " Animal Paris " also and above all reveals forty stories, sometimes surprising, and all illustrating the shifts and continuities that structure the animal history of the capital. " The king killed by a pig ", " The wolves entered Paris ", " The royal menagerie of Versailles ", " The hunt for rats ", " The city of 80,000 horses ", " The animal cemetery of Asnières-sur-Seine ", " Transhumances in the Ile-de-France " ... so many stories that make us aware of the place of animals in Paris and in our society, giving us a glimpse of what could be the construction of a living city.

The best part? It is possible to come with your four-legged animal to discover the exhibition, something rare enough to underline! See you at the Pavillon de l'Arsenal until September 3, 2023 to discover this surprising free exhibition on the history of animals in Paris.