La Grande Aventure du Savoir Médical

This exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe traces the transmission of medical knowledge from antiquity to the modern era, highlighting how medicine traveled across civilizations despite wars, conflicts, and religious reservations. Curated by Dr. Philippe Abastado, the show explores the journey from Greece to Rome, Alexandria, Baghdad, and Padua, with the book as the primary vehicle of knowledge.

Visitors can explore five themes—translating, transmitting, debating, experimenting, and healing—through sumptuously illuminated manuscripts, incunabula, and printed books with engravings, alongside objects used in pharmacy and surgery. Digital animations complement the collection, revealing the geography of this medical adventure, key figures, theories of the body, and practices of consultation and health preservation.

The exhibition aims to foster awareness of medical knowledge as the product of centuries of cross-cultural exchange, promoting tolerance and openness in times of identity withdrawal and certainty. It is a compelling journey for anyone interested in the history of science and medicine.