Clubbing: club culture on show at the Grand Palais Immersif!

Like a desire to dance on the dancefloor! The Grand Palais Immersif invites you to discover its exhibition on the history of clubs and nightclubs, entitled Clubbing, from May 13 to October 12, 2025. A unique sensory and interactive journey over 1,200 m², dedicated to the history of club culture, between avatars, digital dancefloors and mythical venues.

Ready to hit the dancefloor? Head to the Grand Palais Immersif to discover the Clubbing exhibition, on show from May 13 to October 12, 2025. This participatory, immersive exhibition, presented over 1,200 m², is devoted to the history of club culture and the major stages in the clubbing movement, from its underground origins to contemporary trends. The exhibition features a virtual journey combining music, technology and sensory exploration.

The exhibition transforms the Grand Palais Immersif into a new-generation club, where history and technology merge to offer a unique sensory experience. Here, visitors aren't just spectators: they become part of the party, exploring the richness of clubbing through several interactive spaces.

Designed by artist Pierre Giner, in collaboration with graphic designers Trafik and electronic media Poptronics, Clubbing invites visitors to immerse themselves in the world of electronic nightlife. Each participant can create his or her own clubber avatar and move freely around a space designed as a digital club. The aim is to offer an individual experience while retracing a collective and artistic history of the nightlife scene.

Create your avatar and join the digital club

Visitors are invited to create their own avatar, a double with all the rights, first and foremost that of being beautiful for dancing and going out, dressed by stylist Maroussia Debeck. Designer Andrea Crew has revisited clubber styles exclusively for the exhibition.

Come and dance with your avatars to the sound of FG's historic mixes, or explore the gallery of nightlife styles in the Parade des clubbeurs: hip hop, disco, club kids, blitz kids, voguing or gabber... A room in perpetual motion, the Dancefloor, combines the history of live audio-video, sound performances and the ballet of avatars.

The tour highlights several emblematic venues that have left their mark on club culture around the world. These include the Loft, Studio 54,Hacienda, Palace, Bains Douches, Pulp, Trésor and Berghain. These establishments are recreated virtually, allowing visitors to discover their atmosphere and influence. The installation aims to show how party, dance and sound have shaped cultural identities and movements.

A festive atmosphere from the moment you enter the exhibition

Upon entering, visitors are greeted by an illuminated sign and an iconic bouncer, before entering a world teeming with virtual clubbers. As theexhibition unfolds, they explore these mythical venues through their sonic imprint, from New York to Berlin, via Paris, Tokyo and São Paulo. These spaces are veritable creative laboratories, where collective identities are forged in the shadow of the spotlight.

Major figures from the club scene share their stories to enrich this history: Dave Haslam (Haçienda), Étienne de Crécy, Azu Tiwaline, Seb 69DB (Spiral Tribe), Patrick Vidal, Valery B, Christophe Vix, Patrice Bardot, Arnaud Idelon,Jérémie Kroubo-Dagnini, Marie Jauffret-Roustide and photographer Karel Chladek.

The playlist, the styles, the sounds: a lively celebration of clubbing

An exclusive 200-track playlist, selected by Patrick Vidal, extends the experience: a condensed version of decades of rhythms that have set the world's clubs alight. Thanks to DJ Stream, a continuous stream of online sets keeps the night going without interruption.

Our visit to the Clubbing exhibition at the Grand Palais Ephémère :

An exhibition we were also able to discover during a press visit... And clubbers should have a field day, since the exhibition is entirely dedicated to them, with a revisit of the greatest venues in the history of the nightlife world, paralleling the birth and evolution of a musical style that turned codes upside down, after disco.

In fact, if you went to see the fabulous Disco exhibition at the Philharmonie, Clubbing is a kind of little sister to it, extending and completing the musical experience in a different way, certainly, but in the continuity of what the Philharmonie can offer. So, the two exhibitions are quite different, neither is linked to the other in any way, but both offer a complementary facet of the music history of the period. And it's pretty well thought-out, even if there was no consultation (one assumes).

Otherwise, theimmersion is interesting, particularly in the cathedral, where works are projected and accompanied by mixes. There's also a mixing desk in the center, indicating possible DJ sets for nightclub-style parties. The rest of the exhibition, although less visual, remains just as interesting, thanks to the screens and photos displayed along the way, but also and above all thanks to the multitude of audio headsets, enabling visitors to listen to personalities from the world of nightlife tell us about their jobs or anecdotes, or to listen to musical sets from the past or the present, for an unprecedented musical immersion in clubs the world over.

A great experience if you're a late riser. If you're curious, the exhibition should appeal to you too, being quite open-minded about its subject matter for neophytes. On the other hand, if you don't like going to clubs at night, or if you think electro music is"noise", don't go: it's not for you. We wouldn't necessarily advise families to visit either (especially with very young children), although the exhibition is open to them. After that, it's up to you... But you should know that the exhibition is accessible (depending on prices) from the age of six. In our opinion, some of the videos shown are in no way intended for them.

For the rest of you, though, it's a must-see if you want to learn everything there is to know about the subject!

The exhibition is in keeping with the Grand Palais Immersif approach to combining artistic creation and digital devices. Clubbing takes a formal look at popular culture and its evolution over the decades. Ready to dance and discover the history of clubs?

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