The exhibition explores the crossroads between surrealism, ethnology and archaeology during the interwar period in France, around the question of what to do with objects.

From the mid-1920s onwards, several magazines connected with the artistic avant-garde, such as  Cahiers d'art (1926-1965), Minotaure (1933-1939) and Documents (1929-1930) created an unprecedented decompartmentalization of disciplines by creating a dialogue between photographic reproductions of ancient, modern and non-European artworks. This unprecedented confrontation withdraws works and objects from the authority of classical art history, while challenging established values and creating new meanings.