Paris Moves, Vibrates, Plays. The Grand Palais Becomes the Beating Heart of Summer 2025

Forget, for a moment, the traditional idea of an "exhibition": this summer, the Grand Palais becomes a living, breathing body. A space to walk through, touch, listen to, and inhabit. Two groundbreaking projects – Fun Palace and Nosso Barco Tambor Terra – intertwine beneath the palace’s immense glass dome, transforming it into a kaleidoscope of forms, scents, sounds, and sensations. And incredibly, it's all free.

An Art You Walk Through (Even Barefoot): The World of Fun Palace

Inspired by the radical and utopian vision of architect Cedric Price – who, in the 1960s, imagined a “palace of fun” as a place for play, knowledge, and creative freedom – Fun Palace comes to life at the heart of the Grand Palais d’été from June 6 to 15. But this is no nostalgic homage: it’s a concrete invitation to experience art in a direct, accessible, and participatory way.

Everything is designed to be explored: walking barefoot on a pink felt carpet created by Studio Ossidiana, moving through lightweight structures, sitting on mobile seats, and being surprised by lights, colors, scents, and sounds. The space transforms daily, thanks to a fluid program of spontaneous performances, poetic micro-lectures, listening labs, interactive installations, and collective games.

Here, art is not silently admired – it’s shared, smiled at, and created together. A radically new approach where art becomes play, and play becomes art. A perfect experience for families, children, and anyone ready to rediscover wonder.

The Earth Sounds, the Boat Breathes: Ernesto Neto and the Organic Embrace of the World

Meanwhile, and until July 25, the north space of the Grand Palais hosts one of the most fascinating and sensory installations seen in Europe in recent years: Nosso Barco Tambor Terra, created by Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto, a world master of immersive, symbolic, and ritual art.

The piece unfolds as a massive walk-in sculpture, entirely handwoven with ropes, nets, spices (like cinnamon, turmeric, and nutmeg), tree bark, plant fibers, and intense scents. A porous, breathing architecture that seems to inhale and exhale with its visitors. The title – which means “our boat, drum, earth” – is not a metaphor, but a collective call for planetary empathy.

Drawing on the history of Atlantic navigation, Neto transforms the boat archetype into a shared sensory ritual, celebrating the deep connection between human bodies, music, and the Earth. Hidden within the work are drums from around the world, which can be played by visitors during public activations – a gesture of pure sonic communion.

Currently, access to the interior of the work is temporarily suspended for maintenance, but the exterior environment remains open and alive with collateral activities: ritual concerts, guided thematic tours, textile workshops, and discussions on Brazilian culture and the relationship between art and climate.

The project is a collaboration with MAAT – Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia (Lisbon) and is part of the Saison France-Brésil 2025, a cultural exchange program between the two countries.

📌 Practical Info – Grand Palais d’été

🎨 Exhibitions:

Fun Palace

📅 June 6–15, 2025

⏰ Daily from 10:00 AM to 7:30 PM

🕘 Fridays open late until 10:00 PM

💸 Free entry

Nosso Barco Tambor Terra by Ernesto Neto

📅 Until July 25, 2025

⏰ Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM

🌙 Monday evening openings until 11:00 PM

💸 Free entry

© 2025 Charlotte Madeleine Castelli.                                    All rights reserved.