The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations, located in Marseille, also known as Mucem, is currently hosting an exhibition about naturism entitled ‘Naturist paradises’.
The exhibition, which runs from Wednesday 3 July until Monday 9 December, looks at the history of naturist communities in particular. Through photographs, films, magazines, everyday objects as well as paintings, drawings, books, prints and sculptures, visitors get a rare view behind the scenes.
“Today, France is the world’s leading tourist destination for naturists: its temperate climate and three seas have facilitated the establishment of real communities, which – with the exception of Switzerland – have few real equivalents elsewhere in Europe, where naturism is practised more freely, outside established communities. But there are other historical, cultural, and legal reasons for the uniqueness and longevity of such communities in France”, the Mucem explains.
According to the museum, the timing of the exhibition isn’t random.
“In recent years, a new craze for nudity in nature has arisen, going hand in hand with the search for healthy, vegetarian diets and the use of natural therapies, meditation, and yoga in the open air. These lifestyles, along with the rejection of the diktats that so weigh down our bodies, are all keys to understanding the issues at stake in the naturism of yesterday and today.”
In order for the naturist community itself to enjoy the exhibition to the fullest, the Mucem has teemed up with the French Naturist Federation. One evening a month, at a time when the museum is normally closed, it will open its doors to nude art lovers. They will be allowed inside in full nudity with the exception of footwear. While sandals are allowed, going entirely barefoot is considered to be too dangerous because of the museum’s wooden floors.
The Mucem isn’t the first museum to open its doors to naked viewers. At the end of 2023, Barcelona’s Museum of Archaeology and the Catalan naturism club joined their forces in order to open the museum to nudists. According to the organisers, it was a unique occasion to “admire the works by posing in the same situation as they are, completely naked and surrounded by other bodies.”
