• Photo
• Free

The best free photo exhibitions in Paris

PARIS AND ÎLE-DE-FRANCE
Eleven free exhibitions

Photography is celebrating its two hundredth anniversary, and much of what's on display in Paris and the Île-de-France region is free. Eleven free exhibitions, from galleries in the Marais to suburban photography houses, are listed from the most prominent to the most obscure.

National Maritime Museum: a free counter-evening event in the depths on November 5th

The National Maritime Museum will open its doors free of charge on Thursday, November 5, 2026, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., for a special event themed "The Call of the Depths." Slam poetry, a DJ set, linocut printing, and divination sessions will…

• Photo
• Unavoidable

Exhibition: Revealing the photo collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris

GRAND PALAIS
November 12-15, 2026

The Centre Pompidou is the guest of Paris Photo and is installing Révéler at the Grand Palais from November 12 to 15, 2026, with around thirty artists chosen from its photography collection.

• Photo
• Living room

Paris Photo 2026 Fair at the Grand Palais

GRAND PALAIS
November 12-15, 2026

Paris Photo returns to the Grand Palais from November 12 to 15, 2026 for its 29th edition, under the direction of Florence Bourgeois and the artistic direction of Anna Planas, with the Centre Pompidou collection as a guest.

• Drawing
• Contemporary

Yann Kebbi exhibition at the Caen Museum of Fine Arts

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS OF CAEN
From November 7, 2026 to March 7, 2027

The Caen Museum of Fine Arts concludes its residency cycle with Yann Kebbi, cartoonist for the New Yorker and first winner of the Cauvin-Monet prize: monotypes, unpublished pastels and monumental papers.

• Photo
• Free

PhotoSaintGermain Festival 2026, 15th edition on the left bank

PHOTOSAINTGERMAIN
From November 5 to 28, 2026

PhotoSaintGermain celebrates its fifteenth edition from November 5 to 28, 2026 and unfolds a free photographic trail in some thirty galleries, bookstores and institutions in the 5th, 6th and 7th arrondissements.

• Drawing
• Free

The New Yorker exhibition, a century of covers, at the Martel Gallery

MARTEL GALLERY
From November 6, 2026 to January 16, 2027

From November 6, 2026 to January 16, 2027, Galerie Martel brings together the originals, sketches and research that gave birth to the covers of The New Yorker, under the curatorship of Françoise Mouly, artistic director of the magazine since 1993.

• News
• Contemporary

The Centre Pompidou, MoMA and M+ sign an unprecedented alliance

Centre Pompidou, MoMA and M+
Agreement signed on October 30, 2026

Laurent Le Bon, Christophe Cherix and Suhanya Raffel signed a framework agreement in Hong Kong on October 30, 2026, linking the Centre Pompidou, MoMA and M+ around their collections, long-term loans and co-organized programs.

• Photo
• Unavoidable

Louvre Photo exhibition at the Louvre Museum

LOUVRE MUSEUM
From November 4, 2026 to May 3, 2027

The Louvre Museum has entrusted Dominique de Font-Réaulx and Quentin Bajac, director of the Jeu de Paume, with the curatorship of Louvre Photo, visible on the Napoleon Mezzanine from November 4, 2026 to May 3, 2027, in a scenography by Juan Felipe Alarcón.

• Photo
• Free

Exhibition Paris1, the poetics of photography at Studio Harcourt

STUDIO HARCOURT
From November 2nd to 14th, 2026

Studio Harcourt opens its gallery to Mark Heier from November 2 to 14, 2026, with free access, with Paris1, a title that announces a reflection on photography itself.

• News
• Free

Bowie Exhibition: Inspiration, Fascination, Generation at the Halle des Blancs-Manteaux

HALLE DES BLANCS-CANTEAUX
December 11-13, 2026

From December 11 to 13, 2026, the Halle des Blancs-Manteaux will host "Bowie, Inspiration, Fascination, Generation," a collective exhibition of eighteen artists presented within the 4Art fair. Painting, photography, sculpture, and digital art respond to the figure of the singer, with Bowie France as a partner and free admission.

• Contemporary
• Free

Eric Reynier's Explorations exhibition at the Galerie de l'Europe

GALLERY OF EUROPE
From October 20 to November 21, 2026

From October 20 to November 21, 2026, the Galerie de l’Europe presents paintings by Éric Reynier, entitled Explorations. The figures in this exhibition all originate from clay models, ephemeral creations whose traces are preserved only on the canvas. Free admission, rue de Seine.

• Movie theater
• With family

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone film concert at the Grand Rex

THE GRAND REX
From November 4th to 8th, 2026

The Yellow Socks Orchestra plays John Williams' score live under the screen of the Grand Rex, for the twenty-fifth anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

• Contemporary
• Unavoidable

The Birth of Waves exhibition at the Conciergerie

CONCIERGE SERVICE
From November 4th to December 20th, 2026

Émilie Faïf and Nicolas André are suspending an installation under the vaults of the Salle des Gens d'armes, the largest Gothic civil hall in Europe, before a long campaign of works.

• Photo
• Festival

Photo Days Festival 2026 in Paris and the Île-de-France region

PHOTO DAYS
November 2-30, 2026

agnès b. is sponsoring the seventh edition of Photo Days, which brings together twenty-six galleries and a dozen institutions for the bicentenary year of photography.

• Digital
• Free

Keep Dancing exhibition at the EDF Group Foundation Space

EDF GROUP FOUNDATION SPACE
From November 4, 2026 to January 31, 2027

Núria Guiu Sagarra and Tiler Gab open the third season of Dans(e) la lumière with a free two-story journey, where the gesture ends up escaping the one who makes it.

Halloween in the regions: our top museums and castles that will send shivers down your spine

From Lille to Bordeaux, regional museums and castles are preparing for October 31st: murder mystery parties in the galleries, macabre tours, free evening openings, and creatures hidden in paintings. Our selection of six events outside the…

• Free
• Concert

ARTE Concert Festival: two evenings of free concerts at the Gaîté Lyrique

GAÎTÉ LYRIQUE
October 30 and 31, 2026

The Gaîté Lyrique will host the eleventh edition of the ARTE Concert Festival on October 30 and 31, 2026, free with reservation. Kneecap, Shygirl, Uzi Freyja, and Uche Yara will perform in the main hall from 7:15 p.m. to 11:15 p.m.

• Contemporary
• Unusual

Exhibition "Bursts of Laughter!" at the Tripostal in Lille

LE TRIPOSTAL, LILLE
From October 9, 2026 to January 3, 2027

For the first time, the Tripostal brings together the twenty-two Regional Contemporary Art Funds around the often-maligned art form: humor. From October 9, 2026, to January 3, 2027, "Éclats du rire!" (Bursts of Laughter!) features 153 works by 104 artists in Lille, transforming the building into a comedy club on Thursday evenings.

• Contemporary
• Discovery

Aléas exhibition at the CID in Grand-Hornu, near Mons

CID AT GRAND-HORNU
From November 15, 2026 to April 18, 2027

The CID at Grand-Hornu entrusts its winter exhibition to chance. From November 15, 2026 to April 18, 2027, Aléas, pratiques de l'adaptation brings together in Hornu, near Mons, designers who work with gravity, the living and the already-there rather than imposing a plan, in a former coal mine listed as a world heritage site.

• Theater
• Festival

Radio Live, The Day After, by Aurélie Charon, at Chaillot

CHAILLOT, NATIONAL DANCE THEATRE
November 5-7, 2026

Aurélie Charon and the Radio Live collective are presenting two world premieres of The Day After at Chaillot from November 5 to 7, 2026, one written in Kyiv, the other in Cairo, for the Autumn Festival.

• Unavoidable
• Discovery

The "Eating Images" exhibition at the Mucem in Marseille

MUCEM, J4 LEVEL 2
From October 28, 2026 to April 12, 2027

The Mucem tells in four hundred and thirty-five pieces how, around the Mediterranean, images were eaten, from the host to the love cake, with Ingres, Meret Oppenheim and Michel Journiac.

• Shows
• Free

Focus on Ireland: the City Theatre celebrates Samhain for free on November 1st

CITY THEATRE, SARAH BERNHARDT
November 1, 2026

The Théâtre de la Ville opens its Focus on Ireland on Sunday, November 1, 2026, from 12:00 PM to 6:30 PM, with a free day of festivities dedicated to Samhain, the Celtic ancestor of Halloween. Isabelle Huppert, Stephen Rea, Jean Butler, Louise Mulcahy, Michael Keegan-Dolan, and Oona Doherty share the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre.

• Free
• Movie theater

Palais de la Porte Dorée: a big free weekend for the opening of A History of French Cinema

GOLDEN PORTE PALACE
October 31 and November 1, 2026

The Palais de la Porte Dorée opens its doors free of charge on Saturday, October 31st and Sunday, November 1st, 2026 to launch "A History of French Cinema: Maghreb Heritages." Meetings, workshops, screenings, and an evening dedicated to Camélia Jordana fill the two days, with reservations required.

• Unavoidable
• Movie theater

Exhibition: A History of French Cinema. Maghreb Heritage at the Palais de la Porte Dorée

Palais de la Porte Dorée
From October 30, 2026 to March 21, 2027

The National Museum of the History of Immigration dedicates its major autumn exhibition to artists of North African descent who have shaped French cinema since the 1960s. "A History of French Cinema: North African Heritage" is being held at the Palais de la Porte Dorée from October 30, 2026 to March 21, 2027, and opens with a free weekend.

• Contemporary
• Free

Marcel Duchamp Prize 2026: Brognon Rollin duo winners at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris

Museum of Modern Art, Paris
From October 2, 2026 to February 7, 2027

David Brognon and Stéphanie Rollin received the Marcel Duchamp Prize 2026 on October 22, at the Musée d'art moderne de Paris, where the four nominees remain together until February 7, 2027. The duo owes its victory to an installation built around hundreds of tokens of sobriety, those medals that reward each stage of weaning.

• News
• Unavoidable

A Monet sold for 50 million euros at Sotheby's Paris: an absolute auction record in France

SOTHEBY'S PARIS
Sale of October 22, 2026

Claude Monet holds the new auction record in France. His Iris, painted in Giverny around 1924, was sold for 50 million euros including fees on October 22 at Sotheby's Paris, after a forty-five-minute battle between six bidders.

• Digital
• With family

Cleopatra, the Destiny of Egypt exhibition, at BHV Marais

BHV MARAIS
Until January 3, 2027

A department store has given over its fifth floor to a virtual epic: wearing a headset, we follow the last queen of Egypt, until January 3, 2027 at BHV Marais. Thirty minutes of immersion, one hour visit.

• Contemporary
• Unavoidable

Exhibition: Oli's Imaginary Museum at the Grand Palais

GRAND PALAIS
From December 2, 2026 to February 21, 2027

Oli, one half of the Toulouse duo Bigflo & Oli, occupies 1,300 square meters of the Grand Palais on three levels, from December 2, 2026 to February 21, 2027, to install his imaginary museum co-signed with Jérôme Sans.

• Classic
• Free

Exhibition of Albert Lebourg, a forgotten Impressionist, at the Meudon Museum

MEUDON MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY
Until February 21, 2027

The Meudon Museum of Art and History is bringing back into the spotlight Albert Lebourg, a Norman landscape painter who exhibited with the Impressionists. Around sixty works, many of them previously unseen, are on display until February 21, 2027. Admission is free.