The Call of the Depths. An adventure under the seas from antiquity to the present day

A major exhibition at the heart of the “Call of the Depths” cycle

As the highlight of the cycle deployed across the National Navy Museum network “The Call of the Depths”, this major exhibition presented in Paris in the fall of 2026 offers an immersion into the long history of underwater exploration.

Through arts, literature, sciences, and techniques, it questions the reasons that have pushed human societies to cross the limits of the visible world to explore the ocean depths.

Exploring a hostile and inaccessible world

Below the surface, humans are confronted with an extreme environment: pressure, darkness, cold, and isolation make the seabed naturally inaccessible. Added to this physical barrier is a symbolic and cultural border: since antiquity, the abyss has fueled myths and stories populated by fantastic creatures. The exhibition thus questions this tension between fear and fascination: why would we want to explore such a hostile world?

From antiquity to the present day: a scientific and cultural epic

Between imagination and reality, the global history of this great epic unfolds over more than 800m2, in a chronological journey from antiquity to the present day, inviting a trip to the four corners of the globe. Approximately 280 pieces are presented, including some exceptional and rarely exhibited ones, from the collections of major institutions: biological specimens, archaeological objects, ethnographic collections, manuscripts, scientific instruments, diving suits, ship models, paintings, photographs, sculptures, decorative arts, contemporary artworks, and video installations.

Composed of four major temporal sections, the exhibition is designed as a chronological immersion in the rich history of human adventures under the seas. In a scenography with a mysterious and hushed atmosphere, which stimulates the imagination and invites contemplation, the public dives to the ends of the Cretaceous period before traveling back through the centuries to the present day. As moments of respite, four thematic cabinets punctuate the visit to explore universal subjects: founding stories, cosmogonies, and great initiatory and legendary frescoes; the octopus, a multifaceted tentacled animal; sunken worlds, between the fantasized vision of lost cities and underwater habitat projects; and finally the mermaid, the quintessential mythical underwater figure.

Between imaginary, scientific figures and world cultures

From sea monsters to installations by visual artist Monira Al Qadiri, from the explorations of Commander Cousteau to the advances of oceanographer Marie Tharp, passing through the adventures of Aquaman, the cinema of Jean Painlevé, or the exploits of the Ama, free-diving fisherwomen of Japan, a sensitive dive into fascinating worlds awaits visitors!