Art & Culture

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Suresnes Cités Danse

For twenty years hip-hop dancers and choreographers have been wowing the crowds with their baggy-trousered moves at the Suresnes Cités Danse festival, held at the Jean Vilar theatre in Suresnes.

Crumb

The French love their BD (“bandes-desinées”, comic strips and graphic novels), especially when the pictures jump off the page and into a museum: After ‘Qunitet’ in Lyon’s MAC and ‘Moebius’ at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, it’s the Musée d’Art Moderne’s turn to wow the crowds with American illustrator Robert Crumb’s satirical offerings. Famed for humorous, subversive creations like Fritz the Cat...

  1. Fri Apr 13 - Sun Aug 19
  2. Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris 11 avenue du Président Wilson, 16e

Berenice Abbott

Welcome to 1930s America, the Wall Street Crash, Cadillacs that shine like mirrors and iconic Art Déco skyscrapers: After Lee Miller, Lisette Model and Diane Arbus, the Jeu de Paume continues its ‘great 20th-century female photographers’ theme with Berenice Abbott (1898-1991), a student of Man Ray who arrived in Paris in the roaring twenties. As well as her über-famous ‘Changing New York’ series,...

  1. Tue Feb 21 - Sun Apr 29
  2. Jeu de Paume 1 place de la Concorde, 8e
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Weird museums

Musée des Egouts

Paris' sewer museum is the pongiest place in town, but also one of the most interesting, with tunnels to walk through and titbits on how the insalubrious city was cleaned up.

Les Catacombes

This is the official entrance to the 3,000km (1,864-mile) tunnel network that runs under much of the city. With public burial pits overflowing in the era of the Revolutionary Terror, the bones of six million people were transferred to the catacombes.The bones of Marat, Robespierre and their cronies...

Musée d'Histoire de la Médecine

The medicine museum is a curiosity shop of medical instruments, from ancient Egyptian embalming tools to a gruesome array of saws used for amputations.

The best entertainment venues

Théâtre des Hauts-de-Seine

‘Eclectic’ best describes the Théâtre des Hauts-de-Seine’s programme: Puteaux’s beautiful Belle Epoque playhouse, covers everything from Shakespeare and classical ballet, to music concerts by popular French singers (think Grand Corps Malade and Yaël Naïm), stand-up comedy and plays for children.

Théâtre des Quartiers d'Ivry

Set in Paris’ Ivry suburb, the Théâtre des Quartiers d’Ivry is one of Greater Paris’ most exciting theatres, covering everything from works by new authors, to Goldoni, Moliere and Chekhov. There’s also an emphasis on plays by international theatre troupes – especially those from the Middle East and South America, with an excellent spring festival (March to April) dedicated to non-French works....

Essaïon Théâtre

Situated in the medieval cellars of an old hotel, l’Essaion takes you deep into Paris’ underbelly for cabaret and theatre productions.  There are a few classics on the bill, but the programme mostly leans towards contemporary creations – from comedy to tragedy. L’Essaion also caters well for children, with a selection of quality shows for the younger audience (in French).

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