Bringing together the wild and ephemeral spirit of urban art, the vandalistic chimeras of an interlope artist, the eternal beauty of the mineral world, and the international renown of a prestigious institution? This is the astonishing challenge taken up by this new exhibition by street artist Codex Urbanus at the venerable École des Mines de Paris (Mines Paris – PSL), offering a dazzling cocktail whose two main ingredients are an exceptional collection of thousands of minerals and a few spray cans, mixed in an artistic shaker and presented in a splendid Victorian setting. Come and lose yourself in the display cases, discover a parallel tour route of the museum, and let yourself be captivated by this unexpected encounter between art, fantasy, and the mineral world.
It all starts with an exhibition display case in the museum, which shows off some clothes and shoes. But what is a display case like this doing in the Mineralogy Museum of Mines Paris – PSL? At the museum, we will show you that minerals are present everywhere in our daily lives - including in our clothes!
The Ecole Nationale Mode & Matière decided to take up this topic to create this display and a “Fashion & Minerals?” tour, allowing visitors to discover the minerals used in the fashion industry.
More specifically, this tour was created in December 2025 as part of a research project by the ENAMOMA-PSL program on the reuse of mineral waste in fashion. In partnership with a fashion designer, the research team studied the creative potential of fine particles from excavated construction site soil. The team then surveyed the museum to better understand the mineral deposits they had at their disposal.
The exhibition aims to decipher the use and footprint of minerals in fashion, from their extraction to their visible and invisible uses, at the intersection of the organic and mineral worlds. The exhibition also aims to highlight the human life of the materials that make up fashion, which are extracted, prepared, mixed, transformed, incorporated, used, appreciated, discarded, recovered, reused, destroyed, abandoned, restored, and transformed.
The library and mineralogy museum at Mines Paris – PSL invite you on a double journey through two complementary exhibitions for a unique exploration of the theme “From the Abyss to the Stars”.
In the “From the Abyss to the Stars” exhibition, the Mineralogy Museum at Mines Paris – PSL presents a unique capsule exhibition dedicated to the natural resources of these enigmatic environments. Within the permanent exhibition, a large thematic display invites visitors to dive into the world of the deep sea, with, for example, cobalt-rich polymetallic nodules from a historic exploration campaign, and to travel to the far reaches of the solar system thanks to a selection of meteorites of various compositions and origins.
This capsule exhibition will be on display at the museum until the end of 2026.
Following a successful first edition in Hong Kong in 2024, L'ECOLE School of Jewelry Arts is offering a new version of the “Journey with Minerals” exhibition . Through five chapters (matter, technology, jewelry, art, space), the Mineralogy Museum invites visitors to discover its mineral world in an immersive exhibition featuring jewels from international lenders.
On the occasion of the “Dynastic Jewels” exhibition at the Hôtel de la Marine in Paris, the Mineralogy Museum is lending some of its prestigious gems from the French Crown Jewels: a set of “Brazilian rubies” and a set of Ural amethysts, both acquired to create jewels for Empress Marie-Louise in the early 19th century.
The exhibition brings together jewels associated with the reigns of iconic figures in European history, such as Empress Catherine II of Russia, Josephine, Marie Louise of Austria, and Queen Victoria. Jewelry, a timeless expression of power and prestige, is also revealed here as an intimate object, conveying feelings and conveying royal favors and passion. Stones, tiaras, brooches, and necklaces compose a sumptuous language, that of royal courts, where each gem reveals the status, lineage, and authority of its illustrious owner.
The exhibition is organized by the Al Thani Collection Foundation and the Centre des Monuments Nationaux in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Under prefectural orders, the gems of the French Crown Jewels deposited at Paris School of Mines in 1887 have been temporarily removed from the permanent exhibition and secured at a confidential location.
Any questions about the museum or the collection ? Contact us
Find all the information to come to the Mineralogy Museum here
Musée de Minéralogie
Mines Paris - PSL
60 boulevard Saint-Michel
75006 Paris
TUESDAY: 10am - 12pm and 1:30pm - 6pm.
WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY: 1:30pm - 6pm
SATURDAY: 10am - 12:30pm and 2pm - 5pm
Closed on Sundays, Mondays and on National Holidays
Find all our temporary exhibits and special events here
