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Hand in hand, the couples stroll to the rhythm of heartbeats, the soundtrack of the exhibition “A nos amours”, at the Confluences museum in Lyon, which seduces couples as they approach the Valentine’s Day.
The exhibition, open until August 25, looks from a scientific angle to the different forms of love, familial, friendly and selfless, without neglecting the five senses stimulated in multiple alcoves.
Different definitions of Love
Inspired by the exhibition “Of Love” produced by the Palais de la Découverte in Paris, it was “reinvented” by a scientific committee made up of experts from the Parisian museum and the Musée des Confluences, explains the director of the premises Hélène Lafont-Couturier.
The visit begins in a cinema, where sociologists, anthropologists, psychiatrists and chemists share their definition of love. Then continues with an immersion in the world of childhood with accessories with protective virtues worn by newborns in different cultures. Empathy test, reproduction of a dancing bar, role play: the experience is intended to be interactive and the visitor can even leave with their personalized calligram to declare their love for their loved one.
The exhibition has already attracted 150,000 people, or 1,600 per day, since its opening in October. Visitors often come as couples and the museum is banking on Valentine’s Day to attract even more during a conference on Thursday on the unexpected theme “mathematics and sexualities”.
Sexuality, an important place
Sexuality, in all its forms, occupies a large place in the course: gender identities, notions of consent and pornography are explained in educational videos and personal testimonies.
“A nos amours” also focuses on online dating, based on research by sociologist Marie Bergström. “I have the impression that they are trying to educate people who are not of our generation: especially on the sex education side, how bodies work etc.“, estimates Victor Mage, 23 years old, who came with his girlfriend. Pierre Le Chevanche, 35 years old, hand in hand with his lover, “liked the emotion management part and the scientific approach“. In collaboration with Universcience, the exhibition illustrates in particular what happens in the different areas of the brain during the state of love.
Slide: 10 proofs that you are falling in love