Georges Perec: modes d’emploi

The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) presents a major exhibition devoted to Georges Perec (1936–1982), a key figure in 20th-century French literature and an emblematic member of the Oulipo group. Bringing together almost 300 items, it offers an overview of his diverse output, including Les Choses, La Disparition and La Vie mode d’emploi, while placing his writing in relation to his life.

Conceived as a ‘user’s guide’, the exhibition brings together manuscripts, photographs, paintings, drawings and personal objects from the BnF’s collections at the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal in Paris. Its six sections correspond to the vowels of the alphabet, reflecting Perec’s interest in formal constraints and literary games.

The presentation ranges from his early writings and the constraints of La Disparition, in which the letter E is never used, to his attention to everyday objects and spaces in Je me souviens and Espèces d’espaces. A section devoted to La Vie mode d’emploi traces the development of the novel through its preparatory manuscripts.

The final section focuses on memory, childhood and displacement, themes addressed in W ou le souvenir d’enfance and Récits d’Ellis Island. Perec’s influence on contemporary art is also reflected in works by Christian Boltanski, Sophie Calle, Sam Szafran, On Kawara and Roman Opalka.