Cultural events

Exhibitions, events and talks: explore the events listed in the Bibliothèque nationale de France’s official feed. Consult each source page for dates, venues, prices and booking conditions.

Events at the BnF

• Paris Games Week 2026 at the BnF
  16 Oct 2026 – 21 Oct 2026 · François-Mitterrand. As part of Paris Games Week 2026’s off-site programme, the Bibliothèque nationale de France hosts events bringing together researchers, professionals and players to share their knowledge and experiences […]
• Guided tours of the exhibition ‘Louise Bourgeois. Extreme Tension’
  27 Oct 2026 – 17 Feb 2027 · Richelieu. This tour explores the exhibition through its major works. Visit the website.
• Guided tour of the exhibition ‘Georges Perec: A User’s Manual’
  Guided tours · 22 Oct 2026 – 11 Feb 2027 · François-Mitterrand. Inspired by an Oulipian game, this group visit challenges traditional museum interpretation by turning space into a rule of play. Individual audio guides alternate between thematic insights […]
• Treasures of Hellenism
  Talks · Exploring the BnF’s Greek manuscripts · 9 Oct 2026 – 9 Dec 2026 · Richelieu. The Manuscripts Department, Sorbonne Université, the Institut universitaire de France and the Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes (CNRS-IRHT) jointly organise a series of talks […]
• Medieval iconography and databases
  Talks · 6 Oct 2026 – 8 Dec 2026 · Richelieu. The Manuscripts Department and the AHLomA research group at the EHESS Centre de recherches historiques jointly organise seminars devoted to medieval iconography and […]
• Exploring the theme ‘Animal Stories’
  6 Oct 2026 – 2 Dec 2026 · François-Mitterrand. Echoing the museum’s annual theme, ‘Animal Stories’, the BnF presents events drawing on its rich collections to explore relationships between humans and animals and, more […]
• Guided tours of the exhibition ‘Japanese Photographs from the BnF’
  Guided tours · 7 Oct 2026 – 29 Jan 2027 · François-Mitterrand. This tour explores the exhibition through its major works. Visit the website.
• Autumn School on the Printed Book
  26 Oct 2026 · François-Mitterrand. Designed for master’s students and those beginning a doctorate, the Autumn School explores the material study of books from the 15th to the 21st century within research in literature, languages and the humanities […]
• The bicentenary of photography at the BnF
  Events · 30 Sep 2026 – 18 Jul 2027. The BnF holds one of the world’s largest photographic collections: seven million images spanning the medium’s history from its origins to the present. To mark photography’s bicentenary, the BnF presents […]
• Researching and returning cultural property looted during the Nazi era
  Consequences, memories and traces of looting · 16 Sep 2026 – 30 Jun 2027 · Richelieu. A series exploring the scholarly, political and memorial issues surrounding research into, and restitution of, cultural property looted during the Nazi era […]
• Around the exhibition ‘Foucault: An Intellectual Adventure at the Collège de France’
  5 Oct 2026 – 2 Nov 2026. To mark the centenary of Michel Foucault’s birth, the Collège de France and the BnF honour him through an off-site exhibition and events devoted to his work […]
• Around the exhibition ‘Japanese Photographs from the BnF’
  1 Oct 2026 – 16 Dec 2026 · François-Mitterrand. The BnF’s collections of Japanese photographs from the second half of the 20th century are among the largest in the Western world. Talks explore the history of these collections alongside the exhibition […]

Information may change. Refer to the organiser’s page when planning your visit.

AI-assisted English translation · French original