The "Long Live the Bride!" exhibition at the Arab World Institute
ARAB WORLD INSTITUTE
From September 29, 2026 to February 28, 2027
Some forty costumes and bridal adornments from the Maghreb, never before exhibited in France, are displayed alongside works by twenty-seven contemporary artists: the Arab World Institute presents marriage as a ritual in motion, from September 29, 2026 to February 28, 2027.
A Maghreb wedding dress sometimes weighs several kilos of gold, thread, and pearls, and it is worn for only one day. The Arab World Institute takes this paradox as its starting point: the most elaborate garment of a lifetime is also the most ephemeral, and it speaks, better than any book, of what a society expects of its women, its families, and its celebrations.
Long live the bride! The exhibition brings together some forty costumes and adornments from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, drawn from collections that had never before loaned them to France: embroidered caftans, belts, headdresses, and ceremonial jewelry. Alongside these, twenty-seven contemporary artists, almost all women, from the Maghreb and the diaspora, offer their interpretation of the ritual, such as the Tunisian artist Aïcha Filali, whose embroidered photomontages reinterpret portraits of couples in costume. Curators Élodie Bouffard and Nawel Dehina do not present a static tradition but rather a rite that evolves with the societies that celebrate it, poised between heritage and self-affirmation.
To continue: our list of the top new exhibitions in Paris and our Fashion section.
ARAB WORLD INSTITUTE
From September 29, 2026 to February 28, 2027
1 rue des Fossés-Saint-Bernard, 75005 - Metro: Jussieu (Lines 7, 10)
Tue. to Fri. 10am-6pm, Sat. and Sun. 10am-7pm
Ticket prices available online
