At the heart of Boulogne-Billancourt, the Albert-Kahn Departmental Museum's mission is to tell the world about the works and testimonies of the humanist banker. Awarded the title of Museum of France (Musée de France) as one of France's main state museums, it houses part of the collections put together by Albert Kahn between 1909 and 1931. The exhibits tell the story of the many expeditions of the philanthropist who made his fortune in mining in the 19th century, and dreamed of world peace. In a unique way, he documented daily life in the 19th century all over the world. In order to put together an iconographic record of ways of life that were dying out, he sent photographers on assignments in over 60 countries. These testimonies to a lost world are gathered in the "Archives of the Planet", a documentary collection of a hundred or so hours of black and white film, and over 72,000 autochromes. Technological tools, such as images projected onto walls or touch screens, help to showcase this collection, which is the largest of its kind in the world.
The incredible site integrated into the museum was designed by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. This vast area of 2,300 m² includes temporary exhibitions, permanent collections and a restaurant. There are also works of art on display in the gardens, which were created between 1895 and 1910 and are listed Historic Monuments. They are divided into different themes: English, French or Japanese garden, Vosges forest, blue forest, orchard and rose garden, as well as the remarkable traditional Japanese village which is the highlight of the walk.
