Details

Instant Cabinet of Curiosities

Immerse yourself in POLARAKI, an immersive exhibition showcasing nearly a thousand Polaroids by Araki Nobuyoshi, capturing 30 years of daily experimentation (1997-2024) where flowers, erotic female bodies, and poetic patterns merge into a chaotic visual diary, haunted by love, sex, life, and death.

At the Guimet Museum, discover collector Stéphane André's private installation – 43 columns of 9 frames stretching from floor to ceiling – like a saturated cabinet of curiosities, where free associations between Polaroids evoke visual impulses and ephemerality, with altered slides in resin and cut-up techniques that renew instantaneous uniqueness.

This exceptional donation to the museum, echoing the 2016 Araki exhibition, celebrates the Polaroid as an obsessive gesture, anticipating our era of immediate images while provoking through its explicitly sexual character.

Dates and Duration

From October 1, 2025 to January 12, 2026, this exhibition spans three and a half months, extending immersion in Araki's universe through the heart of winter for progressive contemplation.

Open daily except Tuesdays, it includes guided tours to deepen understanding of the collector's perspective.

This generous duration allows for return visits, enriching perception of the patterns across seasons.

Opening Hours

Open daily except Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (last admission 5:15 p.m., closed January 1, May 1, and December 25), with possible extended hours during special events.

Free visits last approximately 45 minutes, encouraging circular wandering through the rotunda.

These standard hours adapt to urban schedules while maintaining an intimate and immersive atmosphere.

Address and Access

The complete address is: Guimet Museum, 6 Place d'Iéna, 75016 Paris.

Located in the 16th arrondissement near Trocadéro, the museum is accessible by metro (Lines 6 and 9, Iéna station) or RER C (Pont de l'Alma station).

This palace of Asian arts, with its circular rotunda on the fourth floor, amplifies the cylindrical scenography, merging Oriental collections with contemporary Japanese photography.

Admission and Accessibility

Admission is €13 for full price (€10 reduced for students, seniors, and groups); free for under 18s, EU residents aged 18-25, and the first Sunday of the month.

Access prohibited for under 18s due to sexually explicit content; online booking recommended for the rotunda.

This balanced pricing, with multilingual audio guides and accessibility accommodations (elevators, spacious areas), ensures inclusion for informed audiences.

Artistic Context

Born in 1940 in Tokyo, Araki Nobuyoshi, trained at Nihon University and working in advertising from 1963, became independent in 1972 to explore intimacy with international success, known for monumental flower views and erotic-pornographic staging that has provoked since the 1960s.

Adopting the Polaroid in the 1990s for compulsive documentation, he records environment and impulses, influencing our relationship with instant imagery through experimentation such as cut-ups and resin techniques in works like Hana Kinbaku.

Curated by the Guimet Museum following Stéphane André's donation in May 2025, this exhibition – the first presentation of this private collection – continues the museum's enrichment of contemporary Asian photography, establishing Araki as an obsessive provocateur who unites the intimate and universal in poetic and unsettling abundance.