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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The British Indian Pavilion was commanded by the future Prince Edward VII, Prince of Wales, to represent the British Indies at the 1878 World Exhibition in Paris. Designed by architect Caspar Purdon Clarke, it initially consisted of two symmetrical parts connected by a gallery, installed on the Champ-de-Mars. At the end of the exhibition, the two sides were sold separately: one was destroyed by a storm in Saint-Malo around 1905, while the other was transferred to Courbevoie in 1882-1883.

In Courbevoie, this half of the pavilion was backed by a brick house built to serve as a workshop for George Achille-Fould, the daughter of Prince George Barbu Tirbei. During its winding, the floors were reversed: the old ground floor became the first floor, and vice versa. The larch wooden pavilion gradually degraded and was bought by the city in 1951. It was listed as a historical monument in 1987, but required urgent work in the 1990s due to a 20 cm collapse.

Restored under the direction of Frédéric Didier, Architect in Chief of Historic Monuments, the pavilion reopened in 2013 as a museum. The restructured brick section now hosts an artist's workshop in residence, in partnership with the National School of Fine Arts. Funding for the restoration was provided by Total, the State, the Île-de-France Region, the Hauts-de-Seine Department and the city of Courbevoie.

Since its opening, the pavilion has welcomed artists in residence for 18 months. Among them are Sarah Derat (2013-2015), Mara Fortunatović (2015-2017), Florian Mermin (2019-2021), Magnakobo (2022-2023), and Maxence Doré (since 2024). These residences allow artists to share their work with residents and schools in an educational and cultural setting.

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