Till March 29, 2026, the École des Arts Joailliers, in partnership with the Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past, is presenting an enchanting exhibition: “Desires of Stones: Poetry and Minerals by Roger Caillois.” This encounter between literature and science presents a singular expertise, the place the uncooked great thing about minerals dialogues with the ideas of a collector.
This exhibition—which is free!—invitations us to decelerate, ponder, and dream. As a result of that’s what it’s all about: past easy aesthetics, every stone reveals a world stuffed with poetry.
Article produced in collaboration with L’École des Arts Joailliers
Roger Caillois, the poet of stones
Essayist, poet, and member of the Académie française, Roger Caillois (1913–1978) was a serious mental determine of the twentieth century. A pal of André Breton and near the Surrealists, he explored the hyperlinks between nature, artwork, and creativeness with insatiable curiosity.
From 1952 till his demise in 1978, he assembled an distinctive assortment of over a thousand stones, now preserved on the Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past because of the patronage of the École des Arts Joailliers with the assist of Van Cleef & Arpels. These minerals, which he referred to as his “fairy objects,” have been for him mirrors of the world and symbols of creation.
For him, nature is an artist, able to portray even earlier than people picked up a brush. The exhibition pays tribute to this poetic thought by revealing practically 200 specimens chosen from among the many most outstanding.
An exhibition between science and poetry
Conceived by François Farges, professor on the Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past (MNHN) and curator of the exhibition, Rêveries de pierres: Poésie et minéraux de Roger Caillois explores the intimate relationship between Caillois and the mineral world. Guests are taken on a sensory journey through which every stone turns into a fraction of the language of nature that the author sought to interpret. Via the collector’s poetic gaze, minerals turn into work, writings, geometric shapes, and even faces.
Agates formed like landscapes, Italian limestone resembling engravings, onyx as darkish as evening: nature reveals itself to be an artist. Some items, by no means earlier than exhibited, additionally reveal the “secret sculptures” that Caillois assembled himself, veritable mineral chimeras.
The exhibition closes on an virtually mystical observe with the unprecedented presentation of the “Anagogical Stones,” related to texts present in 2023 that have been in all probability supposed to be Caillois’s final literary work. These writings, virtually accomplished earlier than his demise, mix poetry and spirituality across the theme of elevation—anagoge in Greek. That is the primary time that a few of these texts have been offered alongside the corresponding stones.
A contemplative stroll in addition to an encounter with Roger Caillois
Greater than only a mineral exhibition, Rêveries de pierres : Poetry and Minerals by Roger Caillois is a sensory expertise. Due to an immersive scenography combining projections, sound clips, and poetic texts, we’re invited on a contemplative journey by means of Caillois’s universe. Accompanied by his writings, images, and even his academician’s sword, the exhibition additionally reveals a extra intimate aspect of this man who’s little recognized to most of the people.
Lyon, Musée des Confluences
{Photograph} by Benjamin Chelly
The École des Arts Joailliers, based in 2012 with the assist of Van Cleef & Arpels, continues its mission to share artwork, science, and historical past. Guided excursions open to all, in addition to excursions specifically designed for youngsters, supply a singular option to uncover Roger Caillois’s mineral poetry. This immersion continues by means of calligram creation workshops for younger and outdated, a “poetic gemology” workshop based mostly on the minerals offered within the exhibition, and a program of lectures.
Among the many highlights: a images exhibition by Juliette Agnel, La susceptibilité des Roches (The Sensitivity of Rocks), echoing the author’s ideas offered all through November; a spherical desk dialogue on Caillois’s academician’s sword; and a number of other conferences with François Farges, together with one on the L’Escarboucle bookstore on the guide Pierres anagogiques (Anagogical Stones).
A landmark guide: Pierres anagogiques (Anagogical Stones)
To accompany the exhibition, L’École des Arts Joailliers and Éditions Gallimard are publishing an distinctive guide: Pierres anagogiques. This 320-page quantity, edited and illustrated by François Farges, brings collectively beforehand unpublished texts by Roger Caillois and greater than 150 full-page images of his minerals.
The status version, restricted to 100 numbered copies, shall be out there on the bookstore L’Escarboucle, inside L’École, alongside a basic model out there in bookstores.
Sensible info
Handle:
16 bis boulevard Montmartre
75009 Paris
Hours for self-guided excursions:
Tuesday by means of Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Late evening hours on Thursdays till 9 p.m.
Guided excursions:
- For adults on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 3:15 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.; on Thursdays at 6:15 p.m. and seven:15 p.m.
- For youngsters aged 7 and over, Saturdays at 3:15 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.
Article produced in collaboration with L’École des Arts Joailliers
Header picture: Agate, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), Paris, Museum nationwide d’histoire naturelle, mineral and gem assortment, {photograph} by François Farges
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