Lecture Series: The Making of the Great Museums of Paris—From 1900 Until Today

Following our previous Zoom series during the winter of 2024 tracing the history and heritage of the extraordinary museums that were established in Paris starting during the Revolution and continuing through the end of the 19th century, we continue the story over the past 125 years with, after an introductory lecture, presentations by the curators and directors of a “house museum”, a “Presidential museum”, a “private museum”, a brand-new museum still in the making, and by a “universal museum.

Lecture: The Making of the Great Museums of Paris—The Making & Remaking of the Centre Pompidou

Arthur Dayras will explain how the Pompidou Center of Contemporary Art, located in its iconic building on the Beaubourg plateau designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, came to be the first “presidential museum”, the reasons for the renovation of the museum that will start in 2026 and continue until 2030, how the museum’s ambitious cultural program “Constellation” will enable it to operate during the five years of renovation works, and how the museum will be transformed after the works have been completed.

Author Talk: Véronique Le Bris—Alice Guy, la plus audacieuse des pionners du cinéma

As part of Festival de la Francophonie 2026 and in partnership with Villa Albertine, the Alliance is honored to welcome French journalist Véronique Le Bris for a presentation of her book Alice Guy, la plus audacieuse des pionniers du cinéma : la biographie de la première femme réalisatrice au monde.

Présentation de livre : Petite-Ville avec Mélikah Abdelmoumen

Avec nos amis à l’Alliance Française Minneapolis/St. Paul, rejoignez-nous en ligne pour une discussion autour du roman Petite-Ville (2024) de l’autrice québécoise Mélikah Abdelmoumen. L’autrice présentera son livre et en lira quelques extraits.

Lecture: Native American Diplomats at Versailles—300 Years of Franco-Indigenous Dialogue

To close out this year’s Festival de la Francophonie—and in partnership with the French Heritage Society and the French Heritage Corridor—the Alliance is honored to welcome representatives from the Peoria and Miami nations for a lecture and discussion exploring French-Indigenous relations, in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Native American diplomats’ visit to the court of Versailles.

Lecture: 17–19th Century French Art with Chloé Glass

The Alliance is pleased to welcome Franco-American art historian Chloé Glass for a lecture on 17–19th century French art. The program will be followed by a reception, where guests can continue the conversation with the scholar and mix and mingle with their fellow Francophiles and art history lovers, all over a complimentary glass of French wine.

Author Talk: Laure Gouraige—Le Livre que je n'ai pas écrit

The Alliance is honored to partner with Villa Albertine to welcome French writer Laure Gouraige for a talk about her 2024 novel *Le livre que je n’ai pas écrit (The Book I Didn’t Write).