D'OUM KALTHOUM À DALIDA
With the exhibition Divas, from Oum Kalthoum to Dalida, the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) is paying a majestic and vibrant tribute to the greatest 20th-century woman artists from Arabic music and cinema and celebrates not only their history but also their contemporary heritage.
A plethora of period photographs, excerpts from epic films and concerts, glamorous cinema posters, stunning stage dresses, personal objects and interviews illustrate this journey through the lives and the art of these legendary singers and actresses, including Oum Kalthoum, Warda Al-jazairia, Asmahan, Fairuz, Leila Mourad, Samia Gamal, Soad Hosny Sabah and the young Dalida.
This exhibition highlights not only the role of these women as timeless icons, symbols that are beloved in post-wwii Arab societies from Cairo to Beirut, not forgetting Paris, but also their crucial role in artistic and intellectual effervescence and in national political renewal from the 1920s to the 1970s, particularly in Egypt. Through the portraits of these "golden age" divas, the exhibition also portrays the social history of Arab women, the birth of feminism in patriarchal societies, women's involvement in panarabism and struggles for independence as well as their central role in the various artistic fields that they have helped revolutionise.
Arranged into four chronological parts, the exhibition allows visitors to learn about the pioneering and avant-garde feminist women of the 1920s, golden-voiced divas of the 1940s-1970s such as Oum Kalthoum or Fairuz, the film productions of "Nilewood" and the success of the Egyptian musicals with actresses such as Leila Mourad or Dalida, and lastly the view contemporary artists have on the legacy of these stars as a source of inspiration.
Place du Panthéon (5th) – paris-pantheon.fr
ARÈNES DE LUTÈCE
Don't miss this Gallo-roman amphitheatre, built in the first century with a stage for theatrical performances and an arena for gladiator fights and other games.
4 rue des Arènes (5th) – paris.fr
MUSÉE DE LA SCULPTURE EN PLEIN AIR
Turned into a garden in the late 1970s, this open-air sculpture museum gives free access to around thirty works by sculptors from the second half of the 20th century such as César, Brancusi, Zadkine and more.
11 bis quai Saint-bernard (5th)