Every year, the Collège de France opens its doors to the public on the occasion of the European Heritage Days, allowing visitors to discover the institution's heritage and facilities.

Since 2011, the Collège de France has also been producing in-house exhibitions, bringing together its historical and scientific heritage with the fields of expertise of its professors. Following Dialogue des civilisations (2015), Ougarit, entre Orient et Occident (2016), Daressy : un savant, des archives (2017), Mésha et la Bible : quand une pierre raconte l'histoire (2018), Le papyrus dans tous ses États, de Cléopâtre à Clovis (2021), Champollion 2022. Et l'Égypte ancienne retrouva la parole (2022), the exhibition À bras-le-corps ! Savants et instruments au Collège de France au ^XIXe siècle (2024) is the seventh exhibition organized within this framework.