# Voir Tahiti: First photographs 1859–1870

An exhibition at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac of the earliest photographs of French Polynesia, which the museum acquired in 2023. It shows paper negatives made in 1859–1862 by naval surgeon Gustave Viaud, elder brother of Pierre Loti, and images by naval officer Paul Émile Miot.

- Type: Museum
- When: on view September 29, 2026 – January 31, 2027
- Where: Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, 37 quai Branly, 75007 Paris, Invalides / Eiffel Tower
- Artists: Gustave Viaud and Paul Émile Miot
- Part of: [Paris Art Week 2026](https://artweekguide.com/weeks/paris-2026)
- Event's own page: https://www.quaibranly.fr/fr/expositions-evenements/au-musee/expositions/details-de-levenement/e/voir-tahiti
- On Art Week Guide: https://artweekguide.com/events/voir-tahiti-first-photographs-1859-1870

## From the organiser

The earliest photographs of French Polynesia, acquired by the museum in 2023: paper negatives made in 1859–1862 by naval surgeon Gustave Viaud (Pierre Loti's elder brother) and images by naval officer Paul Émile Miot.

## Also on Tuesday 29 September

- **Until Feb 28, 2027** · [Vive la mariée! Algérie, Maroc, Tunisie](https://artweekguide.com/events/vive-la-mariee-algerie-maroc-tunisie) — Museum at Institut du monde arabe, Latin Quarter. An exhibition at the Institut du monde arabe on weddings in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. It presents bridal costumes and adornments never before shown in France, alongside works by 27 contemporary artists from the Maghreb and its diasporas. It forms part of the Saison Méditerranée 2026. RSVP needed.
- **Until Jan 17, 2027** · [Premières Nations: Arts and cultures of the American Northwest Coast](https://artweekguide.com/events/premieres-nations-arts-and-cultures-of-the-american-northwest-coast) — Museum at Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Invalides / Eiffel Tower. An exhibition at the Musée du quai Branly on the First Nations of the North American Northwest Coast. It covers totem poles, house fronts, masks, garments and everyday objects featuring spirit beings such as Raven, across some forty languages and 1,800 km of coastline.
- **Until Jan 31, 2027** · [Nadar: Inventer Paris, des profondeurs au ciel](https://artweekguide.com/events/nadar-inventer-paris-des-profondeurs-au-ciel) — Museum at Les Catacombes de Paris, Montparnasse. An exhibition at the Catacombs of Paris marking the bicentenary of photography. It looks at Nadar as an inventor who documented Paris from the underground ossuaries, where he made pioneering artificial-light photographs, up to the sky.