"Epidemics. Taking care of the living world," the new exhibition at the Musée des Confluences in Lyon

From April 12, 2024 to February 16, 2025, the Musée des Confluences is hosting "Epidemics. Taking care of the living world," an exhibition in which epidemics are viewed as both a biological and social phenomenon. To mark the occasion, the Institut Pasteur museum, as partner to the exhibition, met with Mathilde Gallay-Keller, anthropologist and project manager for the exhibition.

Pasteur Museum, exhibition partner

For the exhibition, the Pasteur Museum agreed to loan 40 works and scientific objects from its collections and the Archives Department to the Musée des Confluences in Lyon.

These include two unique instruments.

A micro-photographic camera, also known as an "optical bench," developed by Doctor Emile Roux (1853-1933) and used to take precise images of the microbial world; it marks the start of scientific photography which led to the replacement of drawings.

A pneumatic micromanipulator, invented by Pierre de Fonbrune (1901-1963), which minimizes the hand’s natural vibrations when handling microscopic samples.

The optical bench was restored prior to the exhibition. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the restoration in the video below:

Book your tickets online now through the Musée des Confluences website.

The exhibition is open to families, individual visitors and school groups daily from 10.30am to 6.30pm with late opening till 10pm on the first Thursday of every month.

Meeting with Mathilde Gallay-Keller

In connection with the partnership between the Institut Pasteur and Musée des Confluences in Lyon, the Institut Pasteur museum teams interviewed Mathilde Gallay-Keller, anthropologist and project manager for the exhibition.

Read the interview (in French)

Photo : Odile Croissant (1923-2020) et Charles Dauguet (1930-2015) manipulent un microscope électronique (modèle Siemens Elmiskop 1).
Laboratoire de microscopie électronique du service des virus dirigé par Pierre Lépine vers 1960.