The Collège de France will be opening its doors to the general public on Saturday September 19 and Sunday September 20, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., as part of the European Heritage Days, whose theme this year is " 21st-century heritage, a story for the future".
The Collège de France is taking part in this national initiative by presenting its renovation and architectural restructuring project, which gives the buildings on the Cardinal Lemoine site a new heritage value, thanks to the contribution of contemporary architecture and its integration into a protected environment. A scale model of the renovated site and a 3D film will enable the public to see how architect Jacques Moussafir, using a 19th-century building as a starting point, plans to create the heritage of the 21st century.
This architectural project is intended to accompany and serve the particularly original scientific project of the Institut des civilisations, which is currently being set up and will federate the teaching and research entities in the humanities and social sciences that make up the site, while preserving what is already their hallmark: the symbiosis between research and documentation. Chairs, laboratories, teams and specialized libraries work in close interaction in the fields of social anthropology, the Ancient Near East, the Far East and the ancient, medieval and modern Mediterranean.
In the grand foyer, the public will be able to discover a unique temporary exhibition, "The Dialogue of Civilizations", devoted to heritage objects and documents from the valuable collections of the Institute of Civilizations' libraries, as well as the research work closely associated with them. Visitors will also be able to consult Salamandre, the Collège de France's digital library, to familiarize themselves with the digitization of scientific and heritage documents, which also constitutes a "history of the future" of heritage and its modes of protection and enhancement, as well as the evolution of mediation techniques.
A number of films will be shown continuously in the Marguerite de Navarre amphitheatre, illustrating the Institut des civilisations project and the figures and moments in the scientific history of theestablishment.
On Saturday September 19 at 3pm, a round-table discussion in the Marguerite de Navarre amphitheatre will invite the public to reflect on the "dialogue between civilizations".
Over the course of these 2 days, the Collège de France will also be offering visitors a tour of the historic Marcellin Berthelot site: the interior courtyards, neoclassical architecture and sculptures, Italianate facade decorations; the vaulted halls and archaeological remains illustrating Gallo-Roman and medieval history. In the Teachers' Assembly Hall, works illustrating the continuity of experimental science research carried out in the site's laboratories will be on display.
A large audience is expected for this event, which drew almost 5,000 people in 2011, when it was last held at the Collège de France.
Illustration: Extract from the Hie Sannô matsuri scroll (Hie Shrine Festival), circa 17th century.
The complete scroll measures 30 x 7.23 m.
Kreitmann Collection, Institut des hautes études japonaises du Collège de France.
