Magic! Our photos of the Musée de la Carte à Jouer's playful exhibition of magic tricks.

Abracadabra, Sésame ouvre-toi, bibbity bobbity bou... Make sure you brush up on your magic formulas before coming to the Musée Français de la Carte à Jouer! And with good reason: the art venue has organized a major event exhibition on the art of magic in the 19th century! Entitled"Magique!", the exhibition runs from December 18, 2024 to August 14, 2025. In a grand tour filled with surprises, but above all with objects from the collections of Georges Proust, the creator of the Musée de la Magie de Paris, children and adults alike will discover famous magicians and tricks from the 19th century, thanks to playful works and objects that should amaze many.

In circuses, auditoriums and fairs, magic has always fascinated audiences. A card playing hide-and-seek in the magician's hands, a rabbit popping out of a hat, an assistant levitating or being cut in half... Some tricks continue to amaze and intrigue spectators of all ages. For this exhibition, the Musée de la Carte à Jouer has brought together some of the most famous conjuring tricks and illusions, with the help of the Musée de la Magie in Paris.

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Unique and spectacular objects from all over the world are displayed alongside installations,optical illusions, trompe-l'œil andholograms. Renowned magicians such as Charles-Fernand Brisbarre (Steens), Nicolas Minanolo (Professor Dickmann) and Howard Thurston are also featured...

This exhibition plunges us into a wonderful, unusual and prodigious world of magic tricks and illusions... But it's also an opportunity to learn more about the 19th century through the world of entertainment. Mechanisms and new technologies, ways of staging and representing exotic cultures, clothes, great figures of show business... Some pieces reveal a great deal about their era.

Our visit to the Magique! exhibition at the Musée de la Carte à Jouer :

An exhibition we discovered during a press visit. It's small, but dense with exhibits and stories. You enter the exhibition through a curtain, as if you were at a fair, only to find yourself in the first small room, where you can enjoy a variety of playful activities based on perception andoptical illusions. Children can touch lovely historical objects, a rarity in a museum.

The exhibition then continues in the large final room, featuringHoward Thurston 's tricks inspired by his travels in India, as well as illusionist's objects and accessories, many of which belonged to Jean Robert-Houdin himself. A magic sedan chair, a woman cut in two, a magic cauldron... these are just some of the props to discover, and maybe even the secrets behind them!

Note that the visit is guided by a bonimenteur, who will enliven the moment, and that you can also see a one-of-a-kind trick, the flower woman, to amaze young and old alike. A wonderful exhibition for all lovers of history and magic!

Playful, sensational, family-friendly, astonishing... The Musée de la Carte à Jouer exhibition can be described in many different ways. In short, it's... magical!