The exhibition Imaginary Maps – Inventing Worlds, presented at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, invites visitors to explore the boundaries between cartography and imagination. While maps usually represent known territories, they also give shape to fictional worlds that extend and reinvent our perception of reality.
From the Garden of Eden to Atlantis, from El Dorado to the worlds of Narnia, Game of Thrones, and Final Fantasy, the exhibition brings together cartographic masterpieces from the collections of the BnF's Maps and Plans Department, as well as prestigious loans from major international libraries.
The exhibition, designed in four stages, reveals rare pieces and questions how the imagination shapes our representation of the world. The fourth section brings together ancient maps and works by contemporary artists, including Brankica Žilović, who draw inspiration from cartography to question our collective vision of space.
An invitation to travel between history, fiction, and artistic creation.
Cartes imaginaires – Inventer des mondes (Imaginary Maps – Inventing Worlds)
March 24 to July 19, 2026
BNF François-Mitterrand – Galerie 2
Quai François Mauriac - 75706 Paris Cedex 13
Opening hours
- Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Sunday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Closed on Mondays and public holidays.
- Ticket office closes at 6 p.m.
Exhibition curators: Julie Garel-Grislin and Cristina Ion, curators in the Maps and Plans Department, BnF
