The two must-see Parisian shows of this summer

Wolfgang Tillmans Retrospective, Centre Pompidou

June 13—September 22

From June 13, the Centre Pompidou presents what will be its last exhibition before its 5-year closure for renovation: Nothing could have prepared us – Everything could have prepared us, a retrospective of photographs by Wolfgang Tillmans.

A work from the Greifbar series

With a career spanning almost 40 years, the German artist is recognized as a pioneer in both photography and conceptual art. After establishing himself as one of the leading documentarians of the British rave scene in the 1990s, his career as an abstract artist gradually gained him international recognition from the early 2000s onwards. It was also during this period that he experimented with new techniques to create vibrant darkroom images without the use of a camera (notably with his Greifbar series). The artist is the only photographer in history to have been awarded the prestigious Turner Prize in 2000. His work has also been the subject of major exhibitions at leading institutions around the world, including the Tate Modern, the Fondation Beyeler and, most recently, MoMA in 2022.

This time around, the Centre Pompidou gave Tillmans carte blanche over 6,000 m2 of the Bibliothèque publique d'information. With the Bpi stripped bare of its usual furniture and shelving, the artist's bold scenography in Nothing could have prepared us – Everything could have prepared us highlights the analogies between his work and this place of knowledge. The shelves of books and magazines, for example, are directly integrated, sometimes left untouched or transformed into display cases for his works.

With no chronology, the exhibition embraces a cross-section of the artist's photographic work: works from the Paper Drops series, for example, dialogue with still lifes from faraway lands. Certain themes recur, such as the human need for connection (the artist underlines with his photos the possibility of fulfilling this need with technology today), or portraits (as Tillmans captures the subtle tension between individuality and shared human experience). Bringing together archival material with more recent works, the show also echoes the artist's sadly recurring concerns: at the start of his practice (in the late 1980s), he lived through a time when hard-won freedom and social gains, long considered guaranteed, were being put to the test. Unfortunately, this era is far from over, and his work explicitly nurtures a dialogue between present times and history.

Seven Heavenly Senses by The Al Thani Collection, Hôtel de la Marine

June 27—October 5

The Al Thani Collection is currently holding an exhibition entitled Seven Heavenly Senses in its impressive exhibition space at Hôtel de la Marine in Paris. Interestingly, this is the first exhibition of theirs that showcases contemporary artworks, as the Al Thani Collection has rather made a name for itself in recent years in Paris for their incredible collection of ancient works of art, spanning various civilizations across the centuries.

Nestled on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, the Hôtel de la Marine itself is a building with a long cutural history, from royal Garde-Meuble to navy centre. Built between 1757 and 1774, the Hôtel de la Marine was designed as part of a broader architectural project for Louis XV. Originally the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, the building functioned as France’s royal furniture and decorative- arts repository, safeguarding furnishings, tapestries, the crown’s jewels, weapons, etc. In a groundbreaking gesture under Louis XVI, its treasures were even made publicly accessible—every Tuesday from April to November—making it arguably Paris’s first museum, almost two decades before the Louvre opened. Following the French Revolution, the Ministry of the Navy took over in 1798, and the building served as the Navy’s headquarters for more than 200 years, until 2015.

When the French Navy departed in 2015, the Centre des monuments nationaux (CMN) embarked on an ambitious €132 million renovation of the edifice, which lasted until 2021 and was financed through loans (€80 million), direct donations, and sponsorship. As for the Al Thani Collection, it provided €20 million for the renovation, as part of a 20-year exhibition agreement in 400 square meters of the Hotel de la Marine, that was signed in 2018. This marked a symbolic return: from royal storage to naval seat, the building once more became a repository of cultural heritage through a royal collection. This time around, it is a member of the Al Thani royal dynasty of Qatar that is showcasing his taste, with around 120 masterpieces reflecting the refinement of various civilizations, from antiquity to modernity.

Upon arriving in the “Intendant’s Court”, the courtyard serving as the initial lobby where one can purchase entrance tickets or through which one can access the Hôtel de la Marine’s library, one is immediately struck by the beautiful glass roof. Designed by British architect Hugh Dutton in close collaboration with Christophe Bottineau, the chief architect of French historic monuments, it manages to seamlessly blend in the surrounding neo-classical architecture whilst adding a modern and almost futuristic feel. As for the parts of the Hotel allocated to The Al Thani Collection, the architect Tsuyoshi Tane designed a minimalist space that avoids historical pastiche, allowing each object to breathe through uncluttered surroundings, while unspoken dialogues spark between different eras of art history.

Portrait of Jean du Pré (circa 1535-1545), attributed to Jean II Pénicaud, enamel on copper, 10.5 x 8 cm

For those who know The Al Thani Collection through its grandiose display of royal jewels, Mughal miniatures, or Ottoman armor, the current show Seven Heavenly Senses offers a surprising turn, revealing the scope of the royal collector’s interest for contemporary art. Indeed, the exhibition purposefully links ancient and classical beauty and craft with contemporary works. Curated by Olivier Berggruen, it brings together sixty pieces—from rare Renaissance enamels to modern paintings—arranged not by chronology but by sensorial resonance. The works of seventeen contemporary artists— painters, sculptors, musicians, ceramists and even writers —contribute to the show, in a dialogue with Egyptian works from circa 1500-1397 B.C., French and British Renaissance miniatures and even sandstone concretions from 30 million years B.C. to name a few... As for the curation, it aims to explore our seven senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, proprioception and soul. It is interesting to note that vestibular balance, which is usually the commonly accepted seventh sense after proprioception, is thoughtfully replaced by ‘soul’ in the exhibition’s foreword by Al Thani himself, with no further explanation.

And this is where the show bears the unmistakable signature of The Al Thani Collection: the curation is concerned less with providing a historic or thematic angle (something Europeans admittedly tend to do a lot) to justify the gathering of such a wide array of different artworks, than providing visitors with an experience that discreetly says a lot about Middle Eastern hospitality and taste. Indeed, the exhibition deliberately transcends linear narratives. Instead, it orchestrates a sensory choreography: offered a piece of refined mint chocolate upon entering the very dimly lit Gallery 2, visitors inhale the delicate scent Heaven can wait by Jean-Claude Ellena (Éditions de Parfums Frédéric Malle), devised by Magique, a studio specializing in olfactory and multi-sensorial experiences. Meanwhile, a soundscape by Zsela—spanning spoken word, ambient tones, and musical echoes—threads through the headseat that is provided to us upon purchasing the exhibition tickets, subtly underscoring the experience as a whole. As for the embodied sense of proprioception, it is evoked through sculptural forms and spatial arrangements that subtly shift one’s orientation, prompting the visitor to sense not only the object but their own presence in space.

Once inside, time slows down drastically as the visitor goes through an internal journey. Dimmed light and hushed tones cultivate attentiveness; no work vying for attention, but each waiting for the visitor’s attunement. Across the exhibition space, one navigates through gilt-bronze, colored glass, enameled miniatures, polished stone, and paintings of silky curtains. If the selection of artworks undoubtedly echoes the collector’s appreciation of sensorial richness, it also subtly says something about the connection of this richness to the spiritual realm.

The Groves of the Blessed (circa 1525-30), by Master of the Aeneid, painted enamel on copper, gold highlights, 22,5 x 19,8 cm

From historical treasures like a Limoges enamel by a Master of the Aeneid or François Clouet’s portrait of Charles IX, to contemporary pieces such as Salman Toor’s urban tableau After Party, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s lyrical canvas From a Rhyme to a Reason, the exhibition truly dissolves boundaries. However, the diversity of artworks feels like everything but random. The Al Thani Collection achieves something rare, proving that collecting in present times does not need to be circumscribed to one type of art. A collection can bring a wide array of different types of works together in a coherent whole, provided that the collector is passionate about the universal threads that weave them together. There is a strong dialogue, for instance, between the physicality of the precious objects on display, and representations of such objects in contemporary paintings— Issy Wood’s almost tactile subjects (silverware and leather coats), and Giovanelli’s painting of satin drapery resonating strongly with their surroundings. The result is a coherent, sensuous conversation between objects and images that elevates both, making us feel that both material substance and its mirrored representational essence are embodied across the exhibits.

The Uncle (2019) by Adrian Ghenie, acquired by the Al Thani Collection through Sotheby’s for $ 3 million in May 2024

On top of that, the visitor can feel that there is a very specific form of undulating, elliptic and almost intoxicating movement through space that repeats itself across the exhibits, albeit generated by artists with very different styles and even natural elements (the impressive Fontainebleau sandstone concretions). Evoking the vapors of hookah or a genie coming out of a magic lamp, this movement, which can be found within Adrian Ghenie’s masterpiece The Uncle (2019), is also strongly echoed by the smoke trails of Guglielmo Castelli’s painting All You Can Eat (2021), Naudline Pierre’s painting In The After (2025), or Camille Henrot’s bronze sculpture Good Enough (2019).

Seven Heavenly Senses thus manages to create a very special type of ambiance: a celebration of beautiful things, their lustre and material presence, but also their ability to conjure up something of the sacred. All in all, the show is at once humble and profound, managing to bridge the gap between ancient and contemporary art in very impressive fashion: a rare offering in Paris’s grand museum circuit. It invites not admiration, but consciousness, opening a delicate space to rediscover perception itself. Opened on June 27, the exhibition is running through October 5.