Present

‘Ghosts’

From 21 June to 28 September 2025

‘There are dead people who do not die’ Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, The Primitive Mind, 1927

Ghosts have long been a source of fear or curiosity for the general public. Beyond the symbol of revenant spirits that they have represented in our collective imagination for centuries, they have become a real source of inspiration for the artistic world and an object of study for the scientific world. 

With an innovative approach, the new summer exhibition at the Var Departmental Exhibition Centre in Draguignan, Ghosts, will offer a wide variety of representations of ghosts from around the world and across cultures, as well as the beliefs surrounding them. It will be on display from 21 June to 28 September 2025.

‘What is a ghost? How can we categorise this entity among vague terms and concepts such as “spirits” and “revenants”? This exhibition aims to show the universal nature of ghosts across civilisations, but also the wide variety of their representations across time and space,’ emphasises Philippe Charlier, chief curator of the exhibition, forensic scientist, archaeologist, anthropologist and director of the LAAB (Laboratory of Anthropology, Archaeology and Biology), UFR Simone Veil - Health (UVSQ / Paris-Saclay). He adds: ‘We will not answer the question: “Do ghosts exist?”, but will instead try to find out why everyone (or almost everyone) believes in them.’

Thanks to the participation of numerous Parisian museums, other French and foreign museums, private collectors and the Anthropology, Archaeology and Biology Laboratory, nearly 300 objects are on display.