“Excuse me,” demanded a tourist armed with an open Louvre map and a huge camera, “where is the art?” I had been standing with my nose in an intricately sculpted wooden frame that was, in fact, empty. Indeed, all the frames surrounding us in the gallery were missing their paintings, their raisons d’être. The resulting room was quite eerie at first [...]
Read MoreLooking for a way to take the Christmas story with you wherever you go? The 15th century German world had a solution: mobile personal chapels. Take the “Chapelle Cardon” in the Musée du Louvre: this small mobile chapel would have been used for private devotion when it was made in the early 1400s. It includes [...]
Read MoreHistoric châteaux differ from traditional museums in an important aspect: seasons. When I think about visiting most museums, I focus on what I’ll be seeing on the inside. But with historic châteaux and houses, I add in the factor of the time of year I will be visiting. I love making the pilgrimage to the Château de Malmaison during rose [...]
Read MoreA year ago, I was preparing to move from Paris to Montreal. A major strategy in emotionally processing this big change was to visit as many Parisian museums as possible. One of the museums I visited was the Musée Picasso, recently reopened after being closed for a five-year renovation project. After following the dramatic saga of the delays for the opening, there was no way I could leave town before [...]
Read MoreExactly four years ago, I found myself in Denmark. I had just survived my first semester at the École du Louvre. The term had culminated with eight exams in five days; each exam was basically a choice between two broad questions with three hours to answer one of them. I celebrated my birthday with an exam [...]
Read MoreI've been really excited lately by creativity in museums and the creative process in general. In this first Creativity Round Up, I thought I'd try something new, and gather together some links found across the internet. I present to you a handful of inspiring examples of creativity and reflections on the creative [...]
Read MoreThis painting, this fête galante, full of lovers in a garden, is a celebration of flirtation and love. While the young lovers are the focal point of the painting, a full half of the painting is dedicated to the landscape, to the architecture, to the physicality of the scene. As I looked at this painting by Nicolas Lancret, newly [...]
Read MoreNapoléon et Paris at the Musée Carnavalet offers a glimpse at the steamy relationship between Napoleon and the city of Paris, presenting “Paris as seen by Napoleon and Napoleon as seen by Parisians”. I would describe the exhibition as jam-packed and elegant, not two words [...]
Read MoreGarlands in Paris in the midst of a creativity series on the theme of Love. Today, I’m excited to introduce you to Sara, who reflected on this month's theme in New York City. Sara is one of the most creative and caring people I know, so I was excited to get her take on love in a museum. Here's Sara: Bonjour! I’m Sara of Simply Sara Travel, my [...]
Read MoreMuseums can be very romantic places. My favorite museum dates have been in quiet, off the beaten track institutions with eclectic collections. These places facilitate good conversations and set a mood for the whole encounter. You can really get to know someone by hearing his or her reactions to an artwork or artifact [...]
Read MoreIf you’ve been following along for the past few weeks, you know that Garlands in Paris in middle of a creativity series on the theme of the Outdoors. Today, I’m happy to introduce you to Nolwenn, a dear friend and fellow blogger. I asked her to reflect on this month's theme in a Parisian cultural institution. So, without [...]
Read MoreSainte-Chapelle is a decidedly interior space. To experience its full glory, you have to enter its depths, climbing from the lower chapel to the upper chapel. But it has an intimate relationship with the outdoors. At its origins, it was utterly dependent on the light of the sun for the stained glass to come to life. Morning light, evening [...]
Read MoreHere is a round-up of exhibitions in Paris starting in May/June 2015. Check out my Cultural Calendar page to see a large selection of exhibitions currently on! I am so excited about the exhibition on contemporary stained glass windows at the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine. The Musée Cognacq-Jay's exhibition on 'exotic' 18th century [ ... ]
Read MoreThere are a lot of exciting offers opening this month. The Fondation Louis Vuitton is presenting an overview of modern art with exciting loans from top international museums, the Musée du Luxembourg is showing portraits of the Tudors, and the Louvre offers an exhibition looking at Poussin and his religious paintings. I'm also excited [ ... ]
Read MoreHere is a round-up of exhibitions in Paris starting in January/February 2015. I'm particularly excited about visiting the playful buttons exhibition at Les Arts Décoratifs. And with all of the events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of concentration camps by the Allies this year, the exhibition of films made by the Soviets of [ ... ]
Read MoreIn the midst of packing up my life and moving to a new neighborhood, I can't help but think back to my first Parisian apartment, a tiny chambre de bonne on Rue Bonaparte. It had an epic view. Over the course of three years, I would lean out of the window of my garret apartment and take pictures of rooftops, Sacre-Cœur, Saint-Germain-des-Prés [ ... ]
Read MoreIt rained the other day, and I could feel October coming. Paris in autumn is so moody, almost sinister, and I love it. That feeling right after a rainstorm, when the air is still charged and everything is so vivid, that’s where I am now. This transition is intense, but good. Here’s a glimpse at Paris after the rain, on a walk I took [ ... ]
Read MoreÉglise Saint-Germain-des-Prés is easily one of my favorite churches in Paris. It feels ancient; a reminder of the past in the midst of contemporary Parisian life. The structure is surrounded by two little squares, each tucked in against the church and chock-full of art. These modest parks have their own distinct character [ ... ]
Read MoreThis is what my thesis is teaching me: Life is in this moment. I am so tempted to say that life will start again when I turn in this massive document. That I will literally never have a reason to be stressed ever again. But to think that this moment a waiting period for ‘real life’ is a dangerous [ ... ]
Read MoreThe Louvre Abu Dhabi will open in December 2015, but you can see the museum's first acquisitions now, on display in an exhibition at the 'Louvre Paris’. In 2007, an intergovernmental agreement was signed between France and the United Arab Emirates [ ... ]
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This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.
IMAGINIBUS is a blog about playing in museums, with a focus on imagination and creativity.
This blog is a place to be inspired to use your imagination around artworks—and to see the art of your daily life.
When we engage creatively with art, museums can become playgrounds and laboratories to experiment with attention, mindfulness, and imagination. Interesting things happen when we use that museum gaze to look at our daily lives like a work of art.
Find more inspiration for playing with new ways of paying attention to your daily life here.
Hello! I'm Marina Gross-Hoy, a writer, Museum Studies PhD candidate, and mother currently living in Quebec. I take playing in museums very seriously.
Read more about the blog here.
Check out my newsletter on Substack to be inspired to see the art in your daily life.
