Foucault, une aventure intellectuelle au Collège de France

Collège de France

From 30 September 2026 to 15 January 2026, the exhibition « Foucault, une aventure intellectuelle au Collège de France » explores the trajectory of Michel Foucault (1926-1984) within the institution where he taught from 1970 to 1984. On the occasion of the centenary of his birth, previously unpublished manuscripts, archives, and audio and video testimonies trace the movement of a thought that remains profoundly relevant today. On 12 April 1970, the philosopher Michel Foucault, an author as celebrated as he was debated for Histoire de la folie à l’âge classique and Les Mots et les Choses, was elected to the Collège de France to the chair of Histoire des systèmes de pensée. This election was by no means self-evident for a researcher who had first taught psychology but refused disciplinary allegiances, and whose career was already marked by controversy and strong political commitments. It inaugurated an intellectual adventure of nearly fourteen years whose resonances are still felt today, as attested by the fruitfulness of the concepts of “gouvernementalité,” “biopolitique,” “pouvoir pastoral,” or “régime de vérité.” His lectures at the Collège de France are far more than a sketch of his written work. They allowed him to explore new fields and test new hypotheses. Their influence began very early on, with public success and the free circulation of recordings and typescripts. It quickly crossed the borders of France, thanks to the presence of an international audience and the philosopher’s numerous stays abroad, notably in the United States, Brazil, and Japan. The posthumous publication of the lectures, followed by their translations around the world, turned them into a body of work in their own right, read and cited as much as the books published during his lifetime. They thus gave his thought an unexpected second life, as they renew the understanding of its stakes and shed light on his method. The hundred or so items on display – unpublished manuscripts, personal objects, audio and video archives – retrace a dazzling international trajectory that was interrupted too soon, leaving behind a considerable body of scholarly work. The exhibition notably sheds light on the coherence and endurance of a constantly evolving thought that refused to be pinned down. It restores this adventure within a network of friendships and peers at the Collège de France, but also of strategies and struggles beyond its walls, reminding us that knowledge is also a matter of power. An exhibition organised by the Collège de France in partnership with the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Source: Paris Open Data ↗