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Exhibition : From field to text. Publishing ethnology and its images

From November 14 2025 to February 6 2026
Affiche "Du terrain au texte : publier l'ethnologie et ses images"

From field to text. Publishing ethnology and its images
Exhibition on file at the Institute of Civilizations
From November 14 2025 to February 6 2026
Free admission

From field to text. Publishing ethnology and its images
Exhibition on file at the Institute of Civilizations
From November 14 2025 to February 6 2026
Free admission

Observing, listening, noting. Walk alongside others to better understand them. An ethnologist's work always begins in the field. But how do you trace ? How do you record what you've seen, heard and experienced ?

The exhibition Du terrain au texte. Publier l'ethnologie et ses images invites visitors to discover two collections published by The Collège de France Publishing Department's Laboratoire d'anthropologie sociale (LAS) : the Cahiers d'anthropologie sociale (éditions de L'Herne) and the collection Ethnologiques (éditions Mimésis), both directed by Philippe Descola. They echo two major journals founded in 1961 : L'Homme, created by Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Études rurales by Isaac Chiva.

Each of the collections presented here has its own specificity :Cahiers hosts the collective reflections of the laboratory's study days on major contemporary issues, whileEthnologiques publishes monographs based on field surveys.

Focusing on major LAS figures Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908-2009), Françoise Héritier (1933-2017) and Philippe Descola (b. 1949), the exhibition shows the different facets of the ethnologist's profession :

  • field notebooks in which everyday observations are recorded,
  • the images associated with the various volumes, revealing the diversity of the places and cultures studied,
  • and the objects collected on site by exchange, gift or purchase, whose importance lies in the gestures, values and symbolic functions they embody. The objects presented in this exhibition are related to the various anthropological themes covered by Cahiers d'anthropologie sociale and the Ethnologiques collection .

Conferences

  • Alexandre Surrallés : " Pierre Clastres en héritage " (presentation of the recently published issue 22 of Cahiers d'Anthropologie Sociale), November 20 2025, 5 pm h.
  • Monique Jeudy-Ballini : " L'expérience ethnographique ", Wednesday, December 3 2025, 5 h.
  • Salvatore D'Onofrio : " Bal des époux et hiérogamie symbolique ", Wednesday 14 January 2026, 17 h.
  • Julien Bonhomme : " Senegalese wrestling ", Wednesday, January 21 2026, 5 pm h.

Practical information :
Venue : Institute of Civilizations, Françoise-Héritier room
Duration : 1 h
Admission free, subject to availability.

Guided tours by the exhibition curators

  • friday, November 14 2025, 5 pm 
  • monday, December 8 , 11 h (sold out)
  • monday, December 8 , 5 h
  • wednesday 14 january 2026, 17 h
  • monday 9 February 2026, 17 h

Practical information :
To register : https://form.jotform.com/252573782132357
15 people maximum
Duration : 45 mn

An Easy-to-Read and Understand tour booklet is available for download at the site reception desk.

Logo Facile à lire et à Comprendre (FALC)

Guided tours for school groups and students

  • mondays at 2:30 pm (except during zone C school vacations).

Practical information:
To register: https: //form.jotform.com/230442600618346
Duration: 45 min

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