La contemporaine (Bibliothèque, archives, musée des mondes contemporains) 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 (), formerly University of Paris West, Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Hauts-de-Seine, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It is one of the most pres ...
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, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. The contemporary opens in October 2021, a new facility that brings together all the collections at the entrance to the university campus of the University of Paris-Nanterre.
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 :fr: Musées de la Ville de Paris, museums of the City of Pari ...
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 Paris
Higher education in France
Contemporary history
Archives in France