13 October 2026 — 3 January 2027

Echoes of the Invisible

This exhibition grew out of a unique initiative: Orsay Lab, a call for projects launched in 2025 for young people aged 18 to 25, inviting the next generation to propose original, socially engaged projects rooted both in the museum’s collections and in contemporary issues. The call was won by Jad Bestautte, a student from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, whose aim was to raise awareness of mental health and emotional sensitivity among young people by drawing on the evocative power of the Musée d’Orsay’s collections. “I conceived this project with the idea that the museum can become a meeting place, where artworks serve as starting points for connecting with others – a place where mental health has its place,” he explains. Over several weeks, adolescents being cared for in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital visited the museum. Looking at the works together, the visits turned the paintings into projective spaces, setting up a resonance between 19th-century images and the questions and experiences of young people today. These encounters inspired a video conceived as a sensory experience – a dialogue between past and present, echoing the works shown in the room. “Through this project, I wanted to create a space for conversation and attentiveness, where voices that are often overlooked can be heard beyond the hospital walls,” says Bestautte. “Caring means recognising that everyone needs a place, the chance to be heard, and the chance to be seen differently.” Curated by Jad Bestautte, winner of Orsay Lab, with the support of Lilou Barnes, together with François Blanchetière, Chief Curator of Sculpture and Architecture, and Jean-Rémi Touzet, Curator of Paintings, Musée d’Orsay.

Musée d'Orsay