Cancers, the health-driven exhibition at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie

It is an often frightening theme, but very present in the daily life of many people: the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie is organizing a large exhibition on cancer, to be discovered from September 6, 2022 to August 8, 2023.

It is a difficult subject to address: the disease upsets both the patients and their loved ones. However, it is an essential public health issue. This is why the Cité des Sciences et de l' Industrie is organizing a major exhibition to raise awareness about cancer. From September 27, 2022 to August 8, 2023, the museum will reveal all about the treatments, screening, causes and impacts of this disease that affects 382,000 new people every year.

It is a disease that we do not like to talk about, associated with pain, suffering and loss. However, with gentleness, humanity and benevolence, the Cité des Sciences lifts the veil on this subject that affects, from near or far, the lives of hundreds of thousands of French people.

The museum focuses on the scientific, psychological and social dimensions of the various cancers identified to date. Patients, doctors, caregivers and companions are placed at the heart of this exhibition, which aims to highlight the human aspect, rather than the sometimes too inaccessible scientific world.

Numerous testimonies allow us to better understand the disease and its effects. The exhibition also offers an overview of the different treatments available, the research carried out and future hopes. This educational exhibition also allows us to discover how this disease works from a biological point of view, and which mechanisms are put in place to fight it.

One of the chapters of this exhibition deals with the question of prevention and screening, giving multiple advices to avoid risky behaviors, and the good reflexes to adopt.

It is impossible to talk about this disease that attacks the body without addressing the issue ofimage, aesthetic changes,self-love and support from others. These intimate challenges that accompany the arrival of cancer are addressed with modesty, accuracy and emotion. These subjects often relegated to the private sphere are brought to light, without being voyeuristic or indelicate.

Our opinion:

"Cancer" is a scary word, cold in the back, a word that resonates intimately with death. However, far from this dramatic vision, the exhibition de-dramatizes cancer and explains to the general public how the disease is formed, how to treat it... under a scientific and deeply human point of view.

It is an educational exhibition from which one comes out with information to better understand cancer. Although the disease is a rather sad subject, "Cancers" wants to be particularly optimistic: we enter the intimacy of patients or survivors who tell what they felt when they were told they were sick, what they experienced with chemotherapy ... But also, we learn that cancer and diet are linked, that our lifestyle can influence the appearance of this pathology and that research is constantly advancing on the disease.

It is a successful scientific exhibition, we come out of it with a lot of useful information but especially, with a big dose of optimism.

The Cité des Sciences makes us discover cancer through five audiovisual installations, several large sculptures, testimonies, photographs, medical images, explanatory paintings... A mix of science and art, in the service of an important subject.

Come and visit the Cancers exhibition at the Cité des Sciences, and fight the fear of the disease by educating yourself.