Planet Ocean, the Atelier des Lumières descends into the abyss
The ocean of documentaries ends where daylight ends, at around two hundred meters. Below that, down to eleven thousand meters, animals create their own light. This is where the Atelier des Lumières descends, starting October 16th, fifty minutes, seven chapters, with two oceanographers on board.
It begins with a lighthouse. Even before the water, a Fresnel lens rotates on the walls of the old foundry, and it's a beautiful choice, because this object has a Parisian history: the principle was tested in 1822 on the Arc de Triomphe, then installed the following year atop the Cordouan lighthouse. The range of lighthouses then increased from a few kilometers to more than thirty. A ring of glass cut into concentric circles, and navigation changes. We start from there.
Real Descent
Then we dive, and the dive is structured as such. We enter through the coral reefs, less than one percent of the seabed but home to a quarter of all species, where the colors are most vibrant and where mobula rays glide by in slow motion. Then the light fades. Mammals appear: humpback whales, sperm whales, and with them, their songs. Then it fades again, and we reach the abyss, where a symphony of bioluminescent creatures unfolds in complete darkness.
This is the heart of the matter, and this is what makes the idea so compelling. Down below, these lights ignite without any witnesses. They have never been used for seeing: they attract, they frighten, they camouflage. For fifty minutes, we become witnesses.
The ascent is no less intense. We encounter shipwrecks, then debris, which the scenography transforms into a suspended constellation, bags and fragments drifting like frozen bubbles. This is the ecological sequence, presented with images rather than figures, and it is all the more effective for it. The experience ends at dawn, when the boat brings you back to the surface.
Two oceanographers in the machine
The detail that changes everything is at the bottom of the poster. Lisa Brenot and Maé Dany-Fort, oceanographers and authors of the podcast Café Némo, worked on the content and the voice-over. The projected species correspond to real depths. In this format, where beauty is often taken for granted, this is rare, and it shows.
The rest is top-notch equipment: creative direction by Jean-Baptiste Hardoin, 3D modeling by Tigrelab, effects and smoke by Cutback, voice of actress Claire Tran. And a children's workshop designed by SpectreLab, where coloring pages are scanned and then released into water onto the walls—which is, it must be said, unbeatable.
What this changes for the home
The Atelier des Lumières has been displaying Klimt, Van Gogh, and Picasso on its walls for eight years. This time, the subject isn't a painting. We're not looking at an enlarged reproduction; we're looking at a place, and a place that almost no one has ever seen. This is a significant shift for a venue often accused of merely creating a backdrop: here, there's no original to betray.
Find our other favorites in our list of the top new exhibitions in Paris.
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35 ATELIER DES LUMIÈRES
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From October 16, 2026
38 rue Saint-Maur, 75011 - Metro: Rue Saint-Maur (Line 3), Voltaire (Line 9)
Opening hours vary by day; please check when booking
Price: from €11 - Free for children under 3
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