lyon-exposition-objets-insolites-collectionnes-art

In Lyon, this exhibition brings together the most unusual objects collected by artists

undefined undefined 27 septembre 2026 undefined 18h00

The Editor

Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musée national d'art moderne - Centre de création industrielle

What if the most ordinary objects actually told the most fascinating stories? Until March 14th, the Lyon Museum of Fine Arts is hosting Sentimental Museum, a spectacular exhibition where the intimate collections of around sixty artists become genuine works of art.

Here, there's no question of simply lining up artworks behind glass cases: the exhibition explores what artists choose to keep, collect, and transform. Found objects, mementos, curiosities, everyday fragments, or delightfully improbable treasures take on new meaning when they're assembled, stacked, or tucked away in boxes and display cases. It's a way of showing how a seemingly trivial object can become filled with memory and emotion.

Presented by the Lyon Art Museums Hub, the Fine Arts Museum, macLYON and the Centre Pompidou, this exhibition brings together exceptional modern and contemporary works rarely seen side by side. The exhibition explores the very personal practices of around sixty artists and collectives from the 20th and 21st centuries, with an underlying question: why do certain objects become impossible to throw away?

lyon-exposition-objets-insolites-collectionnes-artistes© Lyon Museum of Fine Arts

Ben's completely crazy bazaar

Among the most spectacular pieces, it's impossible to overlook the famous Ben's Shop, presented in a version spanning several decades of creation. Writings, miscellaneous objects and accumulations transform this work into a true "total art center," somewhere between an improbable shop, sculpture and gigantic bazaar.

Another visual knockout: the Wall of André Breton's Studio, faithfully reconstructed based on the arrangement imagined by the surrealist poet. Oceanic objects, masks, stones, roots, folk objects and various curiosities make up an incredible cabinet of curhospitable spaces that lets you dive straight into the world of one of surrealism's greatest names.


© Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon

From swaddled sparrows to "theatres of memory"

The exhibition also reserves its share of genuinely bewildering discoveries, such as the works of Annette Messager or the sculptures of Sylvie Selig, crafted from salvaged objects to create a strange family populated with characters. Henri Ughetto imagines Imperishable Mannequins, while Joseph Cornell transforms his little boxes into true "theatres of memory". An exhibition that ultimately reminds us that a museum can also be a matter of memories, attachment, and curiosity.

 

20 place des Terreaux - Lyon 1st
From September 11, 2026 to March 14, 2027
Admission €14 - €8 reduced rate
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