Grand Palais Exhibition Explores Moon Travel from Reality to Imagination

The Grand Palais in Paris presents "La Luna. Dal viaggio reale al viaggio immaginario" (The Moon. From Real Travel to Imaginary Travel), running until July 22, 2019. The exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the lunar surface on July 20-21, 1969. The show is divided into five sections, beginning with artifacts from the NASA mission, including everyday objects used by astronauts during the eight-day journey. It then traces the history of lunar travel through manuscripts, literature, cinema, and comics. Scientific discoveries are highlighted with early drawings of the lunar surface by Thomas Harriot in 1609 and observations using Galileo Galilei's telescope. The exhibition also explores the moon's cultural impact, from ritual calendars based on its cycle to its association with lunacy. Artworks from antiquity to the present demonstrate the moon's enduring role in the collective imagination, embodying love, esotericism, mystery, and madness. The moon has been personified with names like Selene, Artemis, Luna, Diana, Chandra, Soma, Khonsou, Thot, and Tanit across cultures from Egypt to Mesopotamia to Christianity. The exhibition underscores the paradox that scientific knowledge reveals a barren desert, yet human imagination continues to project dreams onto the moon.