La contemporaine is a French library, museum and archive center specialized on 20th century history. It was named "Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine" (BDIC) until 2018. The institutions has two centers, one in the
Paris Nanterre University
Paris Nanterre University (French: ''Université Paris Nanterre''), formerly Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Paris, France. It is one of the most prestigious French universities, m ...
campus which hosts the archives and the library. The museum is located within the premises of the
Hôtel National des Invalides in the
7th arrondissement of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
The institution was originally established in 1914 as the Library-Museum of the War, and became part of the Ministry of Public Education in 1917. In 1925 the President of the Republic performed its inauguration within the Museum of the War in the Pavillon de la Reine at the
Château de Vincennes. In 1970, the archives and the library were moved to the Paris Nanterre University campus while the museum has been hosted within Les Invalides since 1973.
Today the museum contains about 1,500,000 items and documents from 1870 to the present day, covering major themes of French or international history. Collections focus on political, social and cultural concerns, and represent multiple media including paintings, sculptures, objects, engravings, drawings, posters, photos, and postcards. It presents major temporary exhibits in addition to items from its permanent collection. The library has a collection of 40,000 different journals and newspapers titles as well as 800,000 monographies.
See also
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List of museums in Paris
There are around 130 museums in Paris, France, within city limits. This list also includes suburban museums within the "Grand Paris" area, such as the Air and Space Museum.
The sixteen museums of the City of Paris are annotated with "VP", as well ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Contemporaine, La
Museums in Paris
History museums in France
Buildings and structures in the 7th arrondissement of Paris
Libraries in France
Higher education in France
Contemporary history
Archives in France