EXPO "Nice, my City, my District"

OCTOBER 18, 2024 - MARCH 2, 2025

MASSÉNA MUSEUM

The Villa Masséna is hosting the exhibition Nice, my city, my neighbourhood, a journey through the urban history of Nice and the collective memory of its inhabitants.

Inspired by the words of Patrick Modiano, this exhibition proposes to revisit the city from the perspective of its neighbourhoods, these spaces at the crossroads between the intimate and the collective, the past and the present.

Patrick Modiano, Nobel Prize for Literature, evoked in his acceptance speech in Stockholm in 2014, the role of the city as a place of memories, emotions and lived experiences, which are superimposed as life progresses. In this spirit, Nice, my city, my neighborhood explores this notion of belonging, where each street and each neighborhood echoes a memory, an encounter or a significant moment in our lives.

AN INTIMATE MAP OF THE CITY
The district is much more than a geographical space. It is the framework of our daily lives, marked by our school, professional, emotional or leisure journeys. Each one creates a personal map of the city, weaving memories through places that define us. It is this intimate map that the exhibition invites visitors to rediscover, by exploring the city of Nice through its six territories and 38 current districts.

A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME AND SPACE

From 1858 to today, the city of Nice has undergone a spectacular transformation, going from 44,000 inhabitants to 342,000 in 2019. This rapid population growth has shaped its urban landscape and contributed to the evolution of its neighbourhoods. The exhibition offers a retrospective on this expansion through artistic works, archives, photographs and stories, which illustrate the changes in each district and the way in which they have marked the identity of Nice.

THEMES AND WORKS

The exhibition addresses various aspects of the evolution of Nice, such as:

• The arrival of the English in the 18th century.
• The architectural heritage and the holiday resort of Nice.
• Milestones such as the International Exhibition and the arrival of electricity.
• The development of infrastructure (train stations, hospitals, hotels, etc.).
• Emblematic economic activities such as the culture of wine and carnations.

You can discover works by renowned Nice painters and photographers such as Costa, Fricero, Mossa, Giletta, as well as visual archives from the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis. Visitors will also be invited to relive key moments in local history through an immersive tour that illustrates the urban and social evolution of Nice's six territories: Rive du Paillon, Nice Historique, Haut de Nice, Cœur de Nice, Collines de Nice, and Nice Ouest.

A PLACE OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY

More than just an exhibition, Nice, my city, my neighborhood invites everyone to question their own relationship with the city and to revisit the places that have marked their life. Through a visual and interactive staging, visitors will be able to share their own memories and discover those of others, creating a dialogue between generations and neighbourhoods.