Trial of the Century #5 © Benoit Guillaume / Mucem

Which way to the future?

Trials of the Century - Season 5

From Monday, November 17, 2025 to Monday, March 16, 2026

What if we all questioned the struggles, issues and shortcomings of our contemporary societies in the form of a real-life mock trial involving experts, witnesses and exhibits from the Mucem collections?
This fifth season of Trials of the Century invites us to act in the face of the urgencies of a sick world tempted to turn back the clock: how can we avoid sinking into catastrophism? How can we warn without becoming tense? How can we work together to design a desirable, sustainable future? Be indignant, denounce, inform, gather, legislate, plan, celebrate, think, imagine, educate, love… where’s the future?

Moderated by Rokhaya Diallo, Nora Hamadi, Thomas Legrand, Paloma Moritz, François Saltiel.
A series of meetings devised and produced by the Mucem.

Events (7)

Free of charge
Commission of inquiry © Benoit Guillaume / Mucem

The Inquiry Commission

Les procès du siècle - Which way to the future?

  • Workshop
The Commission of Inquiry is a workshop for reflection and discussion open to all, during which participants play at thinking, putting points of view into dialogue and embodying different experiences.
For half a day, participants take up the subject of the next Trial of the Century and learn together how to develop arguments and testimonies, some of which can be put on the stand and debated at the next Trial of the Century. Between the art of persuasion and theater, the Commission of Inquiry brings a civil counterpoint to debates, because the issues of our world are everyone’s business. A proposal led, depending on the dates, by Grégoire Ingold (director) and Fabienne Jullien (actress)...
Free of charge
Antiracist, feminist and writer, Maryse Condé's legacy Trial of the Century #5 © Benoit Guillaume / Mucem

Anti-racist, feminist and writer Maryse Condé's legacy

Les Procès du siècle - Which way to the future?

  • Debate-
  • Meeting
Moderator: Rokhaya Diallo With Alice Diop (director) and Felisa Vergara Reynolds (professor of French literature, University of Illinois)
With the participation of Caroline Chenu, in charge of research and collections at Mucem. On the occasion of the anniversary of her birth and almost 2 years after her death, Les Procès du siècle revisits the figure of Maryse Condé, with whom the Mucem had the honor of building the event “Les amitiés de Maryse Condé” in November 2022. In her works, the woman who discovered racism when she arrived in Paris to study, after growing up in Pointe-à-Pitre, has never ceased to tell of...
Free of charge
Is there such a thing as a good lobby? Trial of the century #5 © Benoit Guillaume / Mucem

Are there any good lobbies?

Les Procès du siècle - Which way to the future?

  • Debate-
  • Meeting
Moderator: Nora Hamadi With Alberto Alemanno (lawyer, law professor, founder of The Good Lobby) and Lucie Pinson (activist, founder of the NGO Reclaim Finance)
With the participation of Mireille Jacotin, Head Curator of Heritage, in charge of the Public Life Department at Mucem. There are said to be 2,462 lobbyists in France according to the number registered in the directory of the Haute Autorité pour la Transparence de la Vie Publique (HATVP) as required by the Sapin II law since 2016. But what’s behind this figure? Are these interest groups threatening or virtuous for democratic debate? The game of influence goes on in political corridors,...
Free of charge
Go straight to prison! Punish or repair?  Trial of the Century #5 © Benoit Guillaume / Mucem

Go straight to prison! Punish or repair?

Les Procès du siècle - Which way to the future?

  • Debate-
  • Meeting
Moderated by Thomas Legrand With Dominique Simonnot, Controller General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty
With the participation of Claire Dufour, documentation officer at Mucem. What if justice were more focused on prevention and care? How far can it go to make amends? Restorative justice, which aims to bring victims and perpetrators together in a confidential and secure setting, is one of the methods now being proposed to better support the former in their reconstruction and the latter in their empowerment and reintegration… And to go a step further, can we imagine a society without...
Free of charge
Video games: towards new imaginary worlds Trial of the century #5 © Benoit Guillaume / Mucem

Video games: towards new imaginary worlds

Les Procès du siècle - Which way to the future?

  • Debate-
  • Meeting
Moderator: François Saltiel With Fanny Lignon (lecturer in information and communication sciences) and Jennifer Lufau (video game player, marketing consultant for independent creators, founder of the Afrogameuses association)
With the participation of Elise Vanriest-Dabek, heritage curator, responsible for the Collections and Documentary Resources Department at Mucem After being accused of conveying screen addiction, propaganda of warlike values, violence, frustration, disconnection from reality or disengagement, video games are now plagued by masculinism, racism, sexism, cyberstalking and infiltrated radicalization… And yet, gaming culture is also the place where all things are possible, and its great...
Free of charge
For the right to celebrate! Trial of the century #5 © Benoit Guillaume / Mucem

For the right to party!

Les Procès du siècle - Which way to the future?

  • Debate-
  • Meeting
Moderator: Nora Hamadi
With the participation ofHélia Pauknerheritage curator, head of the Contemporary Art department at Mucemand/or Aude Fanlo, responsible for the Research and Teaching Department at Mucem. For the last session of the season, Les Procès du siècle propose to seriously consider the right to celebrate. And why not even a duty to celebrate? An antidote to widespread depression, of course, but also a playground of freedom that teaches us to look beyond social, identity and sexual norms. Far from...
© Lynn SK

Clap de fin - Dj set de Barbara Butch

Les Procès du siècle – C’est par où le futur ?

  • Soirée
Pour clôturer en fête et ensemble cette 5ème saison des Procès du siècle, venez enflammer la piste aux sons house, disco, pop et funk de Barbara Butch, véritable militante de la fête et de l'amour !
La soirée s’ouvrira avec un warm-up assuré par Phred de La dame Noir, activiste des soirées marseillaises.

Past sessions

View full agenda

The trials of the century podcast

View full agenda

The trials of the century podcast

View all available readings (3)
    • Logo Libération