Hymn to Beauty, exhibition by Matthieu Ricard from 13 April to 30 November 2022

From April 13, 2022, Le Toit de la Grande Arche will offer an original reading of Matthieu Ricard's photographs for a unique testimony. A benevolent look at our being and the world around us, like so many landmarks that punctuate our life path.

The Hymne à la beauté exhibition will feature more than 150 photographs by Matthieu Ricard, testifying to his personal commitment and artistic sensitivity to the peoples, cultures and landscapes he encountered during his his many journeys. The result is a series of portraits of others and wild landscapes to “perceive the beauty in all things”.

All of his copyrights (conferences and photographs) are dedicated to the humanitarian association he co-created twenty years ago, Karuna-Shechen which helps more than 400,000 people every year in Nepal, India and Tibet with education, health and services social.

Matthew Ricard

Son of the French painter Yahne Le Toumelin and the philosopher, essayist, journalist and academician Jean-François Revel, Matthieu Ricard traveled to India for the first time in 1967 where he met his spiritual master Kangyour Rinpoche and other great Tibetan spiritual masters. After completing his thesis in cellular genetics at the Pasteur Institute, under the direction of François Jacob, he settled in the Himalayas in 1972, meditating, studying and practicing Buddhism with great spiritual masters. After the death of Kangyur Rinpoche, he became a disciple of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, with whom he lived for 13 years. He became a monk in 1979. In 1980, thanks to Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, he met the Dalai Lama for the first time and became his interpreter for French from 1989 onwards.

Throughout his career, his passion for photography grew, nourished by exceptional encounters. Today, he lives mainly in the monastery of Shechen in Nepal and in a mountain hermitage outside Kathmandu, as well as in the Dordogne.

Practical information

From April 13 to November 30, 2022
Open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (last ascent at 6.30 p.m.)
Price between €7 and €15
Grande Arche area
1 Parvis de la Defense 92400 Puteaux
To find out more about the exhibition

Toit de la Grande Arche