Situated on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes, the Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration is a symmetrical art deco building with visual elements reminiscent of art in the French colonies. In fact, it was built for the 1931 Colonial Exhibition.
The colonial theme is the starting point for the museum, devoted since 2007 to immigration – a little-known chapter of French history which has now been put into perspective on an international, national and personal scale.
France has been one of the main destinations for immigration in Europe for decades. This fresh look at a phenomenon too often considered recent gives French people a better understanding of their past, in which migration flows played an important role, and the current-day consequences of immigration. First-person stories of immigration and amazing life journeys are interspersed with accounts of economic growth, social change and cultural enrichment.
A venue for debate, discussion and scientific research into long-ignored social issues, the museum uses truth, acknowledgement and memory as its guidelines in its quest to clarify France’s past and hence its present.
Useful information
From 10am to 5.30pm. To 10am to 7pm Saturday and Sunday. Closed on Monday.
Palais de la Porte Dorée - 293 avenue Daumesnil, Paris 12th
More info on the Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration
