Step 1: The Albert-Kahn Museum
In Boulogne-Billancourt, the Albert-Kahn Museum combines a landscaped garden with multiple atmospheres and a vast collection of images from around the world. Between the Japanese path, the Vosges forest, and archival projections, the site invites reflection on the links between landscapes, memory, and the way we view world cultures.
1-hour visit, €6 admission
Celebrated for many years for its splendid garden and its unique-in-the-world collection of autochromes, the Albert Kahn Museum now features a new architectural setting.
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From October 14, 2025, to June 14, 2026, the exhibition Benin Round Trip: Perspectives on Dahomey in 1930 examines the way non-European cultures were viewed through 1930s images, reinterpreted by contemporary artists from the African continent.
Ishola Akpo, Thulani Chauke, Sènami Donoumassou, Bronwyn Lace, Roméo Mivekannin, Angelo Moustapha, and Marcus Neustetter exhibit their works, some created specifically for the occasion. Painting, photography, installation, and performance art form a Franco-Beninese dialogue.
The Albert Kahn Museum: the utopian project of a philanthropist banker in the heart of Boulogne-Billancourt
In the 19th century, banker Albert Kahn, who made his fortune in mining resources and dreamed of a peaceful world, created and funded a dozen foundations to foster understanding between peoples. Sensing that his era would witness great changes, he embarked on the somewhat ambitious gamble of building an iconographic memory of societies on the verge of disappearing. From 1909 to 1931, he sent operators from his estate in Boulogne-Billancourt, west of Paris, to photograph and film more than 60 countries. The images were gathered into the Archives of the Planet, a collection containing a hundred hours of black-and-white film and more than 72,000 autochrom plates, the first industrial process for true-color photography patented by the Lumière brothers, of which the museum now holds the largest collection in the world.
Philanthropist, patron, pacifist, visionary, humanist... even today, Albert Kahn's enigmatic personality and his project continue to fuel the collective imagination and the work of researchers.
The museum of travel in images
Housed in a building designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and within seven fully renovated existing spaces, the museum presents its permanent collections and temporary exhibitions across 2,300 m², along with a dining area. Images of a lost world, patiently collected, unfold throughout the tour and seem to come to life through projections, image walls, and touchscreens. Various mediation tools invite everyone to become an active participant in their visit by engaging with the collections and reflecting on their universal significance.
Invaluable botanical collections
Developed between 1895 and 1910 across 4 hectares, the gardens—a true botanical journey around the planet—are an integral part of the museum's collections. Here, Albert Kahn gathered and harmoniously combined the most diverse gardens, reflecting the world he dreamed of: an English garden, a French-style garden, a rose garden, an orchard, and a Japanese garden featuring a remarkable traditional “tea village” installed during the banker's time. A lovely journey between East and West!
As you wander through the aisles, the Image Factory details shooting techniques and showcases the equipment and styles of various operators, while the Plate Room, a former laboratory, preserves the original boxes—a precious testament to a bygone world. The adjoining projection room houses an autochrom projection lantern, just as it was used in the past.
The museum's collections also extend to the center of the garden, within the wings of the monumental greenhouse. In the “Social Gardens,” illustrated maps, autochromes, films, and testimonials evoke the impression that visiting the gardens made on the host's guests. The “Philosophical Garden” is intended as a living laboratory where autochromes of the garden and films on plant growth fuel an immersive audiovisual and sound installation.
Guided tours, workshops, and artist residencies also bring the museum spaces to life all year round.
Accessibility
Information not available
Price
€6