Maison Jean Vilar
Founded in 1979 by Paul Puaux, Jean Vilar's right-hand man and his successor as director of the Avignon Festival, the Maison Jean Vilar is an emblematic place in the City of Avignon.
The place preserves the archives of Jean Vilar and the Avignon Festival while ensuring its year-round presence in our region.
Backed by a conservation and research center under the responsibility of the National Library of France, it is one of the rare exhibition spaces dedicated to the performing arts, drawing on its heritage funds in order to share the memory of the theater and particularly that of Jean Vilar and popular theater.
Exhibitions, readings, meetings, publications and workshops are all proposals to transmit and keep this common memory alive today.
PERMANENT EXHIBITION
The Keys to the Festival
The Avignon Festival adventure from its origins to the present day
In 1947, Jean Vilar created the Avignon Festival. Since then, every July, Avignon becomes the world capital of live performance. The City of Popes is transformed into a vast theatre and welcomes more than 400,000 festival-goers.
With the exhibition "The Keys to the Festival", embark on a year-round journey to discover this great collective adventure through an immersive experience in the heart of the archives of the Maison Jean Vilar and the collections of the National Library of France.
Photographs, films, sound recordings, posters, programs, unpublished notes and correspondence, iconic sets, original drawings, models and legendary costumes!
This exhibition invites you to the heart of the creations that made the Festival's greatest moments: from Jean Vilar's Prince of Homburg to Peter Brook's Mahabharata, from Thomas Jolly's Thyestes to Caroline Guiela Nguyen's Saigon, or the creations of Thomas Ostermeier, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Rébecca Chaillon and Angélica Liddell.
From its origins to the present day, including the creation of the OFF in 1966, explore this unique festival and go behind the scenes of its production.
By entrusting “the keys to the Festival” to a wide audience, this exhibition intends to extend Jean Vilar’s founding gesture: for all and for everyone.
ALTERNATE ROUTE
THE FESTIVAL AS SEEN BY… JULIEN GOSSELIN
In July 2026, the Maison Jean Vilar will inaugurate a new route within the exhibition!
Inaugurated at the Festival's opening, this Alternative Route – The Festival as Seen by… – is a complementary, identifiable, and distinct path that will punctuate the exhibition with a unique artistic vision. It will offer its creator a space for freedom and expression, where they can not only share the creative process behind their programming at the Festival, but also convey their experience as a spectator and artist, as well as their intimate connection to this iconic event.
In 2026, Julien Gosselin, director of the Odéon Théâtre de l'Europe, will have the honor of inaugurating this first edition. Invited to create for the first time in the Cour d'honneur, Julien Gosselin will share behind-the-scenes insights into his creation, Maldoror, for the 2026 Avignon Festival, while also discussing the various works he has presented there: Les Particules élémentaires (2013), 2666 (2016), Joueurs, Mao II, Les Noms (2018) and Extinction (2023).
Full price: €7 / Reduced price: €4.
Guided tours on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 14:15 p.m. > reservation recommended
Prices: €8 / €5
IH: Access ramp.
Themes
Visit
Customers
Language(s) of the visit
Individual visit services
- Unguided individual tours permanently
- Guided individual tours on request
Group visit services
- Unguided group visits on request
- Guided group tours on request
Opening
| Opening hours from September 01 to December 24, 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | Open from 14:18 am to XNUMX:XNUMX pm |
| Wednesday | Open from 14:18 am to XNUMX:XNUMX pm |
| Thursday | Open from 14:18 am to XNUMX:XNUMX pm |
| Friday | Open from 14:18 am to XNUMX:XNUMX pm |
| Saturday | Open from 14:18 am to XNUMX:XNUMX pm |
Closed from December 25th to January 1st inclusive
Exceptional Closure(s)
- 01/01/2026
- 06/04/2026
- 14/05/2026
- 25/05/2026
- 01/05/2026
- 08/05/2026
- 01/11/2026
- 11/11/2026
- 25/12/2026
Prices
Except for certain temporary exhibitions.
Payment methods
Services
Equipment
Services
Activities on site
- Temporary exhibitions
Home animals
Accessible tourism
Physical disability
Most of the exhibition spaces at Maison Jean Vilar are now accessible to people with reduced mobility.
Linked offers
On the spot…
Visite guidée de l’exposition Les clés du Festival, l’aventure du Festival d’Avignon des origines à nos jours
Book online From 8 € / adult
01 September 2026 30 June 2027
Promenade orchestrale – Conférence autour de l’Hommage à J. Baker et M. Luther King
Free
Le 01 December 2026
Viva Novarina !
15 September 19 December 2026
Les Samedis de la Maison Jean Vilar – Autour de la création d’Einstein on the beach à l’Opéra Grand Avignon
Free
Le 07 November 2026
