The exhibition Les Années folles de l'aviation takes place at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace from October 24, 2023 to March 3, 2024.
This exhibition retraces the history of aviation between the two world wars: a period of contemporary history marked by a necessary renewal, a desire to create and a touch of madness, to bury the episode of the First World War. This was a time of renewal in all the arts, when a new society could emerge. Aeronautics, which was booming at the time, was a key component of this revival.
Drawing on over 300 objects and documents from the museum's collection, around a quarter of which have been restored for the occasion, the exhibition shows the role of aviation in the social transformations of the 1920s-1930s.
The exhibition's scenography and itinerary offer a thematic immersion in these pivotal years: The birth of commercial aviation, the great raids aimed at surpassing known limits, aviation at the heart of modern issues such as the emancipation of women pilots, aviation as a means of travel, and the myth of the aviator are all remarkably well-documented subjects. Other less glamorous aspects, such as imperialism and the threat from the air, are also evoked.
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