Transparency

  • Exhibition
  • Ages 2+
  • From to

Art and science come together in the first exhibition of the Palais des enfants, which invites toddlers to pre-teens on an extraordinary adventure to unlock the secrets of transparency. Along the way, they can play, touch, observe, ask questions and above all feel a sense of wonder!

This exhibition is a special collaborative project between the GrandPalaisRmn and Palais de la Découverte.

Grand Palais - Palais de la Découverte (Paris 8)

In brief

Discover Transparency, the inaugural exhibition of the Palais des enfants, an original space designed for 2–10-year-olds, combining art and science! 

Thanks to displays juxtaposing real artworks alongside hands-on scientific installations, children can have fun challenging their perceptions and experimenting with transparency from every angle, from translucency to opacity, the visible to the invisible... Between reflections and illusions, shimmering minerals and optical illusions, each space becomes a playground for the senses and the imagination.

Learn while having fun, dream while experimenting... The exhibition Transparency encourages young visitors to:

  • understand, through a direct, hands-on approach, the phenomenon of transparency – as well as its opposite, opaqueness, and, between the two, translucency. Clue: it’s all to do with light!
  • explore and experience – through observation and touch – the forms of transparency found in nature, in animals, or made synthetically;
  • discover, through artworks (paintings, sculptures and interactive installations), how artists reproduce transparency effects, play around with it and draw inspiration from it in their creations;
  • develop their curiosity, their imagination and their creativity.
     

Useful information!

  • Exhibition for children aged 2 to 10 and accompanying adults
  • Up to 12 years old for children with disabilities
  • Accompanying adults must present a ticket
  • Children under 2 are admitted only if accompanying a child between 2 and 10 years old
  • On Wednesdays, weekends and during school holidays, pushchairs are allowed in the exhibition only for children under 2 (parking available nearby, baby carriers available upon request) 

Accessibility: relief plan at the entrance of the exhibition, bi-graphic elements, Braille texts, French Sign Language translation.

Accessibility

Accessibility at the Palais (french version)

The highlights of the exhibition

  1. Palace of Mirrors

    Now you see me… Step into a mesmerising mirror maze where children can play hide-and-seek among clear glass, frosted panes and one-way mirrors. This playful adventure invites you to explore the differences between transparency, translucency and opacity. Uncover the secrets of glass and crystal craftsmanship and marvel at their artistic possibilities, including the stunning crystal samurai armour sculpted by Patrick Neu.

  2. The Forest

    Venture into a mysterious forest, where shadows and light reveal nature’s secrets of transparency. Delicate spiderwebs catch the glow, while hidden creatures blend into the scenery. Sunlight filters through trunks, branches and leaves, painting intricate shadows that bring the forest’s magic to life. Children then get creative, crafting their own shadows using opaque, translucent and transparent materials, unlocking their imagination as they explore the full spectrum of transparency.

  3. Enfants manipulant le dispositif "Cache-cache nuages" dans la partie "Le ciel" de l'exposition Transparence

    The Sky

    Step into a luminous, open space where the magic of transparency unfolds. Here, visitors encounter a historic scientific installation from the Palais de la Découverte: converging optical lenses that playfully distort and invert the people around you. It’s a captivating blend of fun and discovery for all ages! In Cloud Hide-and-Seek, kids uncover how layers of transparency can transform into opacity. Together, they experiment by lifting the clouds, blocking the sunlight and revealing the science behind what we see.

  4. Jeune fille admirant une vitrine de cristaux colorés dans la Grotte de l'exposition Transparence

    The Grotto

    Step into an enchanted cavern filled with transparent and translucent wonders — a genuine cabinet of mineral curiosities, blending nature’s marvels with human craftsmanship to inspire awe in every visitor. Here, you can engage both sight and touch to explore the Veiled Virgin, a moulding of Giovanni Strazza’s sculpture, where a delicate veil of resin, marble and cement drapes the bust with astonishing realism. Visitors of all ages will be captivated by the sheer artistry, natural and handcrafted, that brings transparency to life.

  5. Beneath the Ocean

    Dive into the depths of the sea! Begin by wading in virtually as you interact with Agathe May’s Portrait en pied (Full-length Portrait) to see how water distorts everything beneath its surface — just like a straw in a glass. This phenomenon is called refraction! Next, immerse yourself in Unwoven Light by Soo Sunny Park, a dazzling installation where iridescent reflections shimmer and shift, inviting contemplation, dreams and imagination. Finally, meet the mesmerising, transparent creatures that thrive in the ocean’s darkest, most mysterious depths.

Le Palais des enfants

Transparency is the first exhibition of the Palais des enfants, an original space designed for 2-10 year olds, fusing art and science! Children are encouraged to be surprised, experiment, have fun, dream.

Learn more

FAQ

Transparency is both a science and an art exhibition! This is what makes it altogether unique. Youngsters will thus gain an insight into transparency through science experiments and real works of art.

From a scientific perspective, transparency is examined through examples from biology, physics and geology. As is the case for all our exhibitions, our curators have worked together with experts, rigorously checking all of the scientific aspects with them.

Since the exhibition is designed for a broad young audience – between 2 and 10 years old – the scientific notions are explained in ways that are suitable for different educational levels, catering to each age: each child is able to grasp them through a hands-on approach involving touch, observation and play. Our philosophy is to spark their curiosity and imagination, awaken their senses and inspire them to explore and ask questions about the world around them.
 

Through hands-on displays, games and observation, Transparency gives children the opportunity to find out:
•    what exactly is transparency, from a scientific point of view. Clue: it’s all to do with light!
•    the differences with opaqueness, its opposite, and translucency, a similar property;
•    the phenomena that arise when rays of light are deviated by matter: reflections, glittering, iridescence and refraction;
•    the forms of transparency found in nature (including in the sky, animals, minerals, underwater or on land), made synthetically or reproduced by artists in real works of art.

It also shows them, through actual artworks (paintings, sculptures and interactive installations), how artists reproduce transparency effects, play around with it and draw inspiration from it in their creations. You won’t believe your eyes!

No! The Palais des enfants is an original space co-designed by the GrandPalaisRmn and Palais de la Découverte. It puts on temporary exhibitions where art meets science. It combines our respective skills and expertise: the GrandPalaisRmn’s know-how in terms of art exhibitions, and the Palais de la Découverte’s experience in terms of child-centred science exhibitions.

The Palais de la Découverte is currently undergoing renovation. To find our science workshops and demonstrations hosted by our science communicators (in French only), head to our pop-up site, les Étincelles du Palais de la Découverte, in Paris’s 15th arrondissement.

Partners

Buy a ticket