Terminée
Deserts
From 2 April 2025 to 19 April 2026
Exhibition-Event
Deserts
From 2 April 2025 to 19 April 2026
The exhibition is now over.
The exhibition Deserts takes you on a journey through the most extreme environments on our planet. From vast desert expanses to the icy landscapes of the poles, venture into the heart of these inhospitable territories and discover the amazing adaptations that allow life to survive here.
See the travelling exhibition
Our exhibitions are on the move! Find out how to host the Museum’s exhibitions by visiting the section dedicated to travelling exhibitions.
For its new major exhibition, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle invites you on an unprecedented journey to the heart of our planet's desert environments, from the iconic Sahara to the polar deserts, by way of the Sonoran, Atacama and Gobi deserts...
Whether scorching or polar, made of rock, sand, salt or ice, deserts all have in common the fact that they are open, arid environments subject to extreme temperatures.
Through almost 200 specimens and objects of various kinds, most of them from the Muséum's extensive collections, as well as multimedia interatives and large-screen projections, the exhibition offers a scientific, fun and aesthetic approach to these fascinating environments.
Lire aussi —
Tout savoir sur les déserts
Deserts of the World
Deserts: "Deserts of the World"
© MNHN - J.-C. DomenechClose your eyes and imagine a desert. What do you picture? The Sahara, with its oases and camel caravans? Or the Arctic, with its ice floes and polar bears?
Far from the usual images we see, deserts encompass an unexpected diversity of landscapes. They represent a third of our planet’s landmass, and are present on every continent!
Thanks to large screen projections, interactives and hands-on exhibits, this first part of the exhibition Deserts immerses you in these little-known environments and attempts to answer the deceptively simple question: what is a desert?
Deserts, vulnerable environments
Climate change, land use, mining and the depletion of groundwater: the threats to deserts are many.
This little-known fragility of desert environments is one of the common threads of the exhibition Deserts, which aims to raise awareness of the devastating effects of human activities.
There is life in the desert!
Deserts: "There is life in the desert!"
© MNHN - G. BalemboyScarce water sources, extreme temperatures, open environments where it is difficult to hide... Life in deserts is not easy!
And yet, desert environments are home to a diverse range of flora and fauna, which have developed strategies for living under these extreme conditions.
Stuffed specimens and interactive displays will help you discover these fascinating species of animals and plants, from the arctic fox to the fennec fox, not to mention cacti, the snowy owl and the silver ant.
An eco-design
For several years now, the exhibitions at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle have been designed to minimise their impact on the environment.
The exhibition Deserts is part of this eco-design approach, reusing scenographic elements from previous exhibitions, designing furniture structures that can in turn be reused, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions generated by the transport of the collections.
Living in the desert
Deserts: "Living in the desert"
© MNHN - J.-C. DomenechHow have humans adapted to life under the often harsh conditions of the desert? And what ties do desert dwellers still have to these environments today, at a time when traditional nomadic lifestyles are being replaced by a sedentary existence and urbanisation?
Using the objects and accounts of inhabitants of the deserts of Mali, Nunavut and Mongolia, the third part of the exhibition Deserts explores different ways of living in the desert.
Accessibility, a key feature of the exhibition Deserts
The facilitated trail is an opportunity to discover the exhibition Deserts from a different perspective, by exploring some fifteen multi-sensory displays.
Designed to facilitate access to content for all audiences, these exhibits offer adaptations for people with disabilities or with comprehension or reading difficulties, including texts in simplified French, tactile relief images, large print and braille.
Field notes
Deserts: "Field notes"
© MNHN - J.-C. DomenechWhat do a meteorite, an Inuit coat and the field journal of Théodore Monod have in common?
In this fourth and final part of Deserts, five scientists bear witness to their experience of the desert and display objects that are symbolic of their research.
Project management
Du&Ma scénographes
Vanessa Goetz et Guillaume Allard
ACL
RCaudiovisuel
Lire aussi —
Qu’est-ce qu’un désert ?
Désertique (2024), peinture sous verre
© Alexandra RoussopoulosUn désert, des météorites. Carnets d'Atacama
Un désert, des météorites. Carnets d'Atacama présente les œuvres des artistes Alexandra Roussopoulos et Julien Magre, partis en novembre 2024 dans le désert d’Atacama à la recherche de météorites, aux côtés des scientifiques Matthieu Gounelle et Jérôme Gattacceca.
Alexandra, Matthieu et Jérôme, désert d'Atacama, novembre 2024
© Julien MagreLes aquarelles, photographies, peintures sous verre, images repeintes et carnets rendent compte du vertige que l’on éprouve à tenir dans sa main une météorite et à toucher un ciel minéral. Le livre du même nom qui accompagne cette exposition artistique, Un désert, des météorites. Carnets d'Atacama, retrace l’aventure de cette expédition, la rencontre entre le monde des arts et celui des sciences.
> Du 10 décembre 2025 au 19 avril 2026 - Grande Galerie de l'Évolution, Hall des Baleines, à la sortie de l'exposition Déserts
Lire aussi —
De l’Atacama jusqu’à Paris, capturer le désert
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