Archives of the Planet — Films

The Albert-Kahn Departmental Museum preserves the _Archives of the Planet, a set of still and animated images, made at the beginning of the 20th century, devoted to the diversity of peoples and cultures. * * * Images at the service of the search for peace and dialogue between cultures. Stereoscopic photography, projections, cinematographs above all, this is what I would like to make large in order to fix once and for all aspects, practices and modes of human activity, the fatal disappearance of which is no more than a matter of time. Albert Kahn, January 1912 Albert Kahn is driven by an ideal of universal peace. His conviction: Knowledge of foreign cultures encourages respect and peaceful relations between peoples. He also perceives at an early stage that his time will witness the accelerated transformation of societies and the disappearance of certain lifestyles. He created the Archives of the Planet, the fruit of the work of a dozen operators sent to the field between 1909 and 1931 in order to capture the different cultural realities in some 50 countries. The ambition of the project led him to entrust his scientific direction to the geographer Jean Brunhes (1869-1930), one of the promoters in France of human geography. Two inventions of the Lumière brothers are used: cinematograph (1895) and autochrome, the first photographic process in natural color (1907). The Planet Archives gathers about 100 hours of films, 4,000 stereoscopy and 72,000 autochromes, the largest collection in the world. **Special observations** A new platform entirely dedicated to Paris images from the Archives de la Planet is now accessible to all. This database, unveiled on the occasion of the exhibition "Paris 1910-1937. Walks in the Albert-Kahn collections", presented at the City of Architecture & Heritage from 16 September 2020 to 11 January 2021, allows the exploration of autochromes and films recorded in the capital by the operators of the banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn. The map of Paris offers you to stroll through its streets to discover nearly 5000 precisely geolocated images, including 21 original films that inaugurate the progressive release of an exceptional cinematographic heritage. **Related links** Link to the general conditions of use of the funds of the Albert Kahn Departmental Museum: [CGU](https://collections.albert-kahn.hauts-de-seine.fr/cms/cgu_media/)