Exhibitions
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The temporary exhibitions offer an opportunity to question preconceived notions in our perpetual goal to better understand history and the contemporary world.
Two forms of exhibition exist: those that favour the relationship to the city – whether it is historical or societal – and those that question Nantes’s relationship to other territories. Often in tandem with major institutions, national (or international) museums, they offer an occasion to reveal objects rarely seen by the public.
Whether using objects obtained via collection drives, or through the museum’s own collections, the “expositions de territoire” return to key moments in the city’s history, and in the local population’s relationship to Nantes. As a result, the public was able to discover Nantaises au travail – about work in the city; Nantais venus d’ailleurs – about foreigners who made Nantes their home; En guerres, 1914-1918 / 1939-1945, Nantes / Saint-Nazaire –about the World Wars; and Rock ! Une histoire nantaise – which examined the history of the local rock scene… to name just a few! With the museum’s acquisition policy, these exhibitions correspond to its singular spirit as an institution that has continually evolved and questioned itself since its creation. They have allowed for new museum rooms to be opened as well as for certain themes to be developed throughout the itinerary.
The curators of certain exhibitions on the relationship between Nantes and the world have been instituted by the museum’s management. This was the case, for example, with La Soie & le Canon FRANCE-CHINE (1700/1860) in 2010, and with Samouraï, 1 000 ans d’histoire du Japon in 2014.
Others were established in partnership with international museums, like: Icônes, trésors de réfugiés, in partnership with the Byzantine and Christian Museum in 2016, Les Esprits, l’Or et le Chaman, in partnership with The Museo del Oro in Colombia in 2017, Nous les appelons Vikings, in collaboration and coproduced with The Swedish History Museum in Stockholm and MuseumsPartner in Austria in 2018.
Since 2007, 26 exhibitions have been opened to the public, 6 of which have been labelled “of national interest” by the French government.

Reflections of Sacred Worlds
INDIA
October 15th 2022 — April 23rd 2023
Exhibition
AAM AASTHA
July 02nd — November 27th 2022
Nantes’s role in the slave trade and colonial slavery, 1707-1830
The Abyss
October 16th 2021 — June 19th 2022
Exhibition
Expression(s) décoloniale(s) #2
May 19th — November 14th 2021
Exhibition
Exhibition LU
15th — 31st December 2020
past event - exhibition
Rock !
February 24th 2018 — November 10th 2019
past event - exhibition
Cimarron
February 02nd — April 14th 2019
past event - exhibition
We call them vikings
June 16th — November 18th 2018
past event - exhibition
Les 47 rônin
October 21st 2017 — January 07th 2018
past event - exhibition
Les esprits, l'or et le chaman
July 01st — November 12nd 2017
past event - exhibition
Icons
July 02nd — November 13rd 2016
past event - exhibition
Flamands et Hollandais
May 30th — August 31st 2015
past event - exhibition
Jean-Émile Laboureur
January 17th — May 17th 2015
PAST EVENT - exhibition
Samurai
June 28th — November 11st 2014
past event - exhibition
Wartime schooldays, 1914-1918
January 25th — April 20th 2014
past event - exhibition
In war times
February 23rd 2013 — February 23rd 2014
past even - exhibition
The Austria : a tragedy in the Atlantic
June 15th — November 11st 2012
PAST EVENT - EXHIBITION
Nantes women at work from the 18th century to nowadays
February 11st — May 20th 2012
PAST EVENT - EXHIBITION
Nantes citizens from elsewhere
April 02nd — November 06th 2011
PAST EVENT - EXHIBITION
Georges Evano
February 17th — April 16th 2011
PAST EVENT - EXHIBITION
Silk and cannons
June 26th — November 07th 2010
PAST EVENT - EXHIBITION
History from the sea
April 04th — September 30th 2009
Past event - Exhibition
Mirror, mirror on the wall
October 04th 2008 — January 04th 2009
Past even - Exhibition
Anne de Bretagne
June 30th — September 30th 2007
PAST EVENT - EXHIBITION
France, Nouvelle-France
March 09th — June 10th 2007