From the Moon to the shepherd's star, from the constellation of the Great Bear to the rings of Saturn, the celestial vault and the stars that inhabit it are the object of immense fascination.

The "Reading the Sky" exhibition focuses on the understanding of the night sky in the Mediterranean. From the first surveys of the ancient Mesopotamian sky to the vogue for contemporary astrology, via medieval Arab astronomy and the Galilean revolution, the societies of the Mediterranean basin have referred to the stars to situate themselves in the cosmos and organise their lives on earth. Knowledge and beliefs have circulated between these shores, creating a shared culture of the heavens that still informs our contemporary approach to the stars.

Through this dialogue between the arts and sciences, the exhibition aims to question our current relationship with the starry sky. Since ancient times, observing the regularity of the stars has helped us to organise our daily lives, for example to find our way around or to draw up a calendar. Celestial phenomena are also interpreted as signs that have an influence on daily life: phases of the moon, comet transits, movements of the planets in front of the constellations, etc. This link between the macrocosm and the microcosm has played a role in the management of states and governments and in the study of individual behaviour, as astronomy and astrology have long worked in tandem.

While astronomy has helped to challenge many of these beliefs, popular culture continues to forge an intimate link with the stars, seeing the sky as a medium for projecting its deepest questions. Today, as the stars fade away under the light pollution from our cities, we continue to search for the constellations with our eyes, to contemplate the beauty of the starry sky and to think about our relationship with the environment. The exhibition's approach is always to consider the sky as seen from the ground.

The exhibition presents exceptional objects that bear witness to this history, set against contemporary works of art that respond to them. Taking a cross-disciplinary approach, "Reading the Sky" combines archaeological, scientific and ethnographic objects with works of art, manuscripts and oral heritage. It features more than a hundred works from the Mucem collections, with over two hundred on loan from national, regional and international collections.

Curated by :  
Juliette Bessette, art historian, University of Lausanne
Enguerrand Lascols, Heritage Curator, Domestic Life Department, Mucem    

MécénatBertin Winlight Technologies

Lending institutions

National and regional museums, private collections:
musée du Louvre, musée d’Orsay, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Bibliothèque nationale de Strasbourg, musée national de la Renaissance, musée national de la Marine, musée Jacquemart-André, musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme, Institut du monde arabe, bibliothèque des Annonciades de Boulogne, musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims, musées de Marseille, musée du Petit-Palais d’Avignon, bibliothèque Inguimbertine de Carpentras, musée des Beaux-Arts de Chambéry, musée des Augustins de Toulouse, musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen, observatoire de Paris, observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, observatoire de Haute-Provence, laboratoire d’astrophysique de Marseille, collection Kugel, collection Michel Frandino, Cinémathèque française, Muséum d’histoire naturelle, Musée des Arts Précieux

International museums :
musée Galileo de Florence, musée archéologique national de Naples, archives d’État de Sienne, musée Benaki d’Athènes

Contemporary artworks : 
Etel Adnan, Juliette Agnel, Abdelkader Benchamma, Clément Cogitore, Thierry Cohen, Caroline Corbasson, Vanessa del Campo, Mohssin Harraki, Bernard Moninot, Matthieu Pernot, Camille Pradon, AnaÏs Tondeur, Armelle Tulunda, Fabienne Verdier, avec des productions spéciales de Sara Ouhaddou et de Jean Mallard.