The MAD’s Museums were among the first museums in France to set up a Visitors’ Department. In 1951, guided tours and lectures were arranged for children and adults to make the permanent collections and temporary exhibitions accessible to the greatest possible number of visitors.

The experiment was instructive and the Visitors’ Department now designs tours, conferences, courses, documentary and photographic projects focused on the decorative arts collections. Sharing knowledge in the field of decorative arts, design, fashion, textiles and graphics is the main mission of the educational and cultural department which seeks to interest and satisfy its visitors.

The Visitors’ Department is for you. Feel free to contact us to discuss about your educational projects, research and wishes.

Information and reservation

Please contact the Educational and Cultural Department from Monday to Friday, 10am-1pm and 2pm-4pm:
• by phone: +33 (0)1 44 55 57 66
• by e-mail: reservation@madparis.fr

For Adults

These activities can be offered in English and German.

Activities for individuals

Guided discovery or thematic tours and workshops are available for individuals and families on weekdays and during the weekend, accompanied by Musée des Arts Décoratifs lecturers. These activities can be done one by one or in series by subscription.

Activities for groups

Guided tours, workshops, a day at the museum. The reopening of the museum is an opportunity to develop new approaches to the collections for groups of adults and families following the new museum itineraries.

A Day at the Museum is a guided tour by a specialised lecturer on a chosen theme such as ‘Use and function’, ‘A period, an art of living’, ‘Everyone has their job’, ‘Exoticism and dreams from elsewhere, ‘The museum in five senses’.

Tactile tours and tours in sign language are also available.

Special services are also available for professional schools, either for activities accompanied by lecturers or simply for free museum visits.

Meetings with professionals

Creators and professionals are regularly invited to share their vision and insight and talk about present-day trends in their field.

Meetings by invitation

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs makes a special effort to welcome teachers from professional schools who are invited to free guided tours of exhibitions during their first week. A team is available to help in designing or following up their pedagogical projects. To enable teachers to prepare their class visits, a document and a bibliography are available on site.

Professional training

Training courses can be designed on demand for companies and organizations.

For young People

Some of these activities are available in English and German.

This department’s educational activities cater for young people from nursery school to the baccalaureate, in groups (schools, extracurricular activities, employee’s committees), individually (Wednesdays and Saturdays, Sundays and school holidays) or with their family. Discovery booklets will enable very young children to apprehend the museum through play activities.

Lecturers, historians, artists and fashion designers conduct these visits and activities with the aim of showing the museum’s heritage to the greatest number and to incite reflection and new interests in young visitors.

Various programmes cater for:

Groups
Free visits, guided tours, workshops, thematic visits, cultural classes, the Pac classes, the blue workshops, artistic workshops and lectures.

Individuals
Thematic tours, workshops, birthdays, family tours and workshops.

Teachers
Particular attention is paid to teachers at all levels of education and those responsible for groups of children with the dual aim of increasing knowledge of the museum’s collections and preparing the museum visit for the groups concerned.

Auditorium

An 80-seat auditorium designed by Bernard Desmoulin runs programs linked to the museum’s services for the public.

The program explores domains linked to the decorative arts for all publics, showing the richness of scientific approaches in all disciplines in lectures by experts in their field. These activities range from lectures, panel discussions and colloquiums to film seasons and live performances in a program aiming to show diverse facets of the collections and temporary exhibitions.

Educational and cultural programs in the auditorium also cover current trends and act as a platform for creative exchanges, research and publishing in the decorative arts, fashion, graphic design and advertising.

Discover the Auditorium’s program (in French only)

Access

Metro train stations: Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre, Tuileries, Pyramides
Bus: 21, 27, 39, 48, 68, 72, 81, 95
Parkings: Carrousel du Louvre, rue des Pyramides

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