Image: Musée Fabre, Montpellier
Musée Fabre in Montpellier is drawing attention this summer to ‘Vidéo Barnum ou l’esprit Paulin’, an immersive experience presented within its exhibition ‘Le design selon Pierre Paulin’. The museum’s July-August newsletter positions the installation as a featured element of the show, which runs from 27 June to 1 November 2026, and describes it as a contemporary reinterpretation of a concept first devised by Pierre Paulin in 1985.
According to the museum, ‘Vidéo Barnum’ was conceived as a project that would combine comfort with emerging audiovisual technologies. It extended Paulin’s longstanding interest in soft, modular and evolving forms, and reflected his way of thinking about furniture as part of a larger environment that could extend from floor to wall, and sometimes to ceiling. The museum presents the installation as an example of his approach to modularity, spatial organisation and technical systems working together.
The version highlighted at Musée Fabre is produced by Paulin Paulin Paulin. The newsletter says this reworking retains the original project’s experimental character and collective spirit while incorporating contemporary immersive technologies. It is also presented as a platform open to artists and musicians, aligning the installation with the museum’s emphasis on design as a lived and shared experience rather than a static display.
The main exhibition, ‘Le design selon Pierre Paulin (1927-2009)’, is described by Musée Fabre as its first major design exhibition. The museum notes that Paulin was born in Paris in July 1927 and died in Montpellier in June 2009. It places his career within the post-war development of design in France, and highlights iconic works including the Mushroom Chair, the Ribbon Chair and the Tongue Chair as lasting symbols of modernity and an imagined future. The exhibition also traces his work from early furniture for the needs of the 1950s to more supple forms linked to the social aspirations and pop culture of the 1960s.
The exhibition page says the display includes major pieces from across Paulin’s career and aims to show how his work illustrates the breadth of design as a discipline. It also singles out a number of key milestones, including the Fumoir de l’Élysée, shown exclusively outside Paris, and ‘Vidéo Barnum’, which the museum identifies as an immersive experience orchestrated by Paulin Paulin Paulin and Sounds Like Paulin. Musée Fabre says the exhibition offers reconstructed interior ensembles, a salon-workshop with interactive activities, and some of the most monumental installations associated with Paulin’s practice.
Alongside the exhibition, the museum is offering guided tours, family visits and workshops tied to Paulin’s work. The guided tour ‘Le design selon Pierre Paulin - la visite guidée’ is scheduled for Tuesdays and Saturdays at 3:30 pm, except 14 July and 15 August, and on Sundays at 11:15 am. Family visits include ‘La forme qui se transforme’ for ages 2-5 and ‘Des objets pas comme les autres’ for ages 6-10, both on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 10:30 am from 4 July. Workshop sessions such as ‘Lumineuse rectiligne’ and ‘L’équilibre des formes’ are also listed during the summer period.
The newsletter places the ‘Vidéo Barnum’ feature within a broader summer programme that includes other museum news, but the exhibition remains the central focus: ‘Le design selon Pierre Paulin’ at Musée Fabre, Montpellier, from 27 June to 1 November 2026.
