Opening of the Musée des Confluences, Lyon

The Musée des Confluences in Lyon opened on December 20, 2014. The architecture of the building is radical—hovering somewhere between crystalline and cloudlike—and it will be home to holdings of more than two million objects representing fields as varied as paleontology, mineralogy, zoology, entomology, anthropology, Egyptology, and prehistory. The core of its current collection is that of the former Musée d’Histoire Naturelle augmented with donations of famous collector Émile Guimet, as well as with objects collected by missionaries and from the holdings of the Musée Colonial. It was further enriched over the years by the new institution’s active acquisitions policy. The permanent collection will present more than 3,000 works shown in four thematic sections: Origins: The Stories of the World; Species: The Fabric of Life; Societies: The Theater of Mankind; and Eternities: Visions of the Great Beyond. Two inaugural exhibitions will feature most of the Émile Guimet pieces in Les Trésors de Guimet (The Guimet Treasures) and objects derived from curiosity cabinets in Dans la Chambre des Merveilles (In the Chamber of Marvels), both on view from the museum’s opening until July 2015. An abundance of cultural events—lectures, concerts, and a variety of academic programs— are also planned.

Visit the museum's official website.