Banlieues chéries

As gateways to major cities, suburbs are often viewed through a narrow lens. The term itself covers a wide range of realities, often reduced to the contrast between so-called peaceful residential areas and long-criticized large housing projects. Yet suburbs reflect a social and cultural richness that is an integral part of French history.

Bringing together more than 200 documents from archives, paintings, installations, videos, photographs and testimonials, the exhibition explores these beloved suburbs as places of memory and transmission. From the red belt to the ‘suburban crisis’ and the construction of large housing estates, the exhibition presents a multitude of perspectives from the late 19th century to the present day.

This exhibition and its supporting programme are part of the Palais de la Porte Dorée's commitment to combating preconceived ideas through a fair understanding of history and contemporary social and political issues.

Exhibition curators

• Susana Gállego Cuesta, Heritage curator, director of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nancy
• Aleteïa, aka Émilie Garnaud, Artist
• Horya Makhlouf, Art critic, artistic coordinator and curator of special projects at the Palais de Tokyo
• Assisted by Chloé Dupont, Exhibition manager at the Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration

Scientific Committee

• Emmanuel Bellanger, Historian, research director at the CNRS and director of the Centre for Social History of Contemporary Worlds
• Cloé Korman, Writer
• Chayma Drira, Doctoral researcher at New York University and journalist

This exhibition was produced with the support of the Union Sociale pour l’Habitat (USH) and the Fédération nationale des Offices publics de l’Habitat (FOPH).
The exhibition also benefits from significant loans from the musée Carnavalet-Histoire de Paris.