The best of the Traversées du Marais Festival 2026
Le Marais is holding an open house
Le Marais is opening its courtyards, gardens, and studios, and there's no charge. Twenty-seven institutions and a few galleries are sharing some forty offerings, all brought together under the banner of Dialogue(s).
Dancers of all styles clash in the garden of the Musée National Picasso-Paris, to music no one can anticipate. Marion Motin referees this battle that opens the festival, and the audience presses against the railings.
The tone is set. Two acrobats from the Libertivore company are suspended amidst the trophies of the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature. Scents replace the labels at the Maison de Victor Hugo, where two designers have created olfactory installations inspired by the poet's shadows. A giant treehouse is erected at the MAIF Social Club, nailed down by the visitors themselves, and serves as a stage for storytelling and a drag show.
Elsewhere, the Swedish Institute transforms its Renaissance garden into a darkened theater for two open-air film screenings. The National Archives lends its salons to a living library, where one borrows an author rather than a book and where the story is told orally.
The last day pulls a thread through the city. A choreographic piece begins at the Louis-Philippe Bridge and ends in the courtyard of the Carnavalet Museum, while IRCAM opens its studios and plays the Stravinsky Fountain through headphones.
Phasmes, Libertivore Company
Two performers from the Libertivore Company cling to, carry, and suspend themselves amidst trophies and cabinets of curiosities. The Museum of Hunting and Nature lends its halls to this fusion of circus and dance, where bodies mimic insects blending into branches.
Museum of Hunting and Nature
62 rue des Archives, 75003
Sunday, September 6, 11:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (30 min)
Free admission, subject to availability.
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Arcanum Formae, Joseph Walsh
Irish designer Joseph Walsh has installed curved wood, bronze, and gold volumes from his Tree Legacy Project in the garden of the Hôtel de Sully. The Centre des Monuments Nationaux (National Monuments Centre) is highlighting the contrast between the classical stone and these organic forms. Paris Design Week is also part of the event.
Hôtel de Sully
62 rue Saint-Antoine, 75004
Saturday, September 5 and Sunday, September 6, 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
Free access to the garden.
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Anankè; what the mouth of shadow says
Scents replace labels: Lucas Huillet and Alexandre Helwani sow olfactory installations inspired by the poet's shadows and abysses throughout the Maison de Victor Hugo. The musicians of the Mozart Conservatory extend the tour with a concert in the hotel garden.
Victor Hugo's House
6 Place des Vosges, 75004
Saturday, September 5 and Sunday, September 6, 10:00 AM–6:00 PM
Concert Saturday at 3:00 PM. Free admission.
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Everything is in order and open-air cinema
The Swedish Institute questions the famous Scandinavian good taste with an exhibition that blends fashion and art, amidst queues, restrained gestures, and overly tidy silhouettes. Curator Nicole Walker starts with the most ordinary gestures. The garden transforms into a darkened room after nightfall.
Swedish Institute
11 rue Payenne, 75003 Paris
Exhibition from September 4 to 6, 12 pm–7 pm,
then until October 4 (Tuesday–Sunday 12 pm–7 pm,
open until 9 pm on Thursdays).
Guided tour in English on Saturday at 4 pm.
Screenings on Friday, September 4 and Saturday, September 5 at 9 pm:
Kevlar Soul by Maria Eriksson-Hecht, Under Hypnosis by Ernst De Geer.
Free admission. Discover the event
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SHELTER, a cabin for the 10th anniversary
A giant cabin is growing at the MAIF Social Club, built by the visitors themselves for the venue's tenth anniversary. Storytelling, readings, drag shows, and cello performances follow one another. The Corps Public company, the Les Paillettes collective, and the Jeune Théâtre National are occupying this construction site, now transformed into a party venue.
MAIF Social Club
37 rue de Turenne, 75003
Friday, September 4, 4:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Saturday 5, 10am-6:30pm; Sunday 6, 10am-5:30pm
Free admission, no reservation required.
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In the Nails, Jean Hostache
Pedestrian crossings become a stage: choreographer Jean Hostache and the La Grosse Plateforme collective present a promenade performance from the Louis-Philippe Bridge to the courtyard of the Carnavalet Museum. Stefania Pavan opens the event with a Horton jazz barre session open to all.
micadanses-Paris x Musée Carnavalet
Departure Pont Louis-Philippe, 75004,
arrival 23 rue Madame de Sévigné, 75003.
Sunday, September 6: Participatory barre session
3:00-3:45 pm, performance 3:45-4:45 pm.
Free, no reservation required.
Just One Tile, Islam Elarabi
Islam Elarabi reduces his territory to a single floor tile and explores how the body fits within it, moves within it, and deforms without ever crossing the line. The Carreau du Temple lends this thirty-minute solo the vastness of its metal hall, where the slightest shift in weight can be read from afar.
Le Carreau du Temple
2 rue Perrée, 75003. Saturday, September 5, 6:00 PM (30 min)
Free admission. Workshop with the artist at 4:00 PM (1.5 hours), reservation required.
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Sound Walk and Open Studios
Ircam opens its studios to the festival and offers a new way to experience the Stravinsky Fountain, with headphones. A puzzle game in the control room, immersive sound fictions, and loops played in the projection room complete the experience. Workshops for young audiences require reservations.
Ircam
1 Place Igor-Stravinsky, 75004
Saturday, September 5, 3–7 p.m.
Last entry 6:30 p.m.
Free admission; workshops for ages 4–6 and 8–12 require reservations. Discover the event
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Birrung Ngura, Belonging to Country, Konstantina
Konstantina, a Gadigal artist from the Eora Nation, covers the walls of the Arts Australia gallery with motifs that tell the story of connection to the land, from the Sydney Opera House to Watsons Bay. Her acrylics take their titles from her language. Stéphane Jacob-Langevin leads the tours himself.
Arts of Australia • Stéphane Jacob
13 rue Chapon, 75003 Paris
Guided tours Friday 4, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. (30 min).
Free, no reservation required. Exhibition on view until September 29. Discover the event
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The Library, Fanny de Chaillé
Fanny de Chaillé replaces books with people: each author allows themselves to be borrowed for the duration of a story told aloud, one-on-one. The National Archives open their doors to this living library, where the borrowing takes place once the story is finished. Jérôme Andrieu accompanies him.
National Archives
60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 75003
Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September, 2-6 p.m.
Free admission, subject to availability.
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UMBRAL, Echoes of Movement, Roman Vargas
Umbral means threshold in Spanish: Roman Vargas builds his dance performance on this passage from one space to another and on the echoes it leaves in the body. The Mexican Cultural Institute opens its Marais townhouse to him for two short, interconnected sessions.
Mexican Cultural Institute
119 rue Vieille du Temple, 75003
Saturday, September 5, 4:00–5:30 p.m. (two 30-minute sessions)
Free admission.
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Carte blanche to the Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation
The Swiss Cultural Centreentrusts its programming to the Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation, which is bringing out its film archives and presenting concerts over three days. Erik Truffaz, Sophie Hunger and Faber, Murcof and Talvin Singh are among the performers. Listening sessions complete the program.
Swiss Cultural Centre
60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 75003
Friday, September 4, 6 p.m.–11 p.m.;
Saturday, September 5, 1 p.m.–11 p.m.; Sunday, September 6, 1 p.m.–9 p.m.
Free admission, subject to availability.
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Creative Family Weekend
The former Brancusi studio serves as the Centre Pompidou's base camp during its renovations, and the Maison opens its doors to families for a weekend. Toddlers as young as two can participate in hands-on activities, while older children can draw on the Beaubourg plateau. The company Les Chemins de la Danse closes the event.
Maison Pompidou
50 rue Rambuteau, 75003
Saturday, September 5 and Sunday, September 6, 2–6 p.m.
Workshops for ages 0–2 and 3 and up, drawing walks, choreography on Sunday
Free, no reservation required, subject to availability.
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