Crowds

“Crowds”, the scientific exhibition on crowd phenomena

A crowd is individuals interacting. How can we understand this singular phenomenon, which is much more than the simple sum of its parts? With “Crowds”, the exhibition at the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie, the exhibition aims to dissect the numerous and complex mechanisms that are at play between individuals when a crowd is created.

• FOR WHOM : for everyone from 10 years old
• WHEN : until May 26, 2024
• WHERE : at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie (Paris 19th)
• OPENING HOURS : Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm – Sunday from 10am to 7pm
• CLOSED : Monday, December 25, January 1

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The exhibition is organized around 7 highlights:

• As an introduction, the samples of crowds: an installation consisting of 5 cabins of 1m2 studies the notion of density (number of people per m2). The aim here is to experiment with the notion of density in a sensory way
• Compact crowds : on the wall, excerpts from concerts, religious and sports gatherings show the spread of waves of jostling. Individuals, within a very dense crowd, are like grains which, by pressing, can block each other: so how can we avoid the worst and come out of it in complete serenity?

• Pedestrian crowds : why do pedestrians collide so rarely and almost always avoid each other?
  Collective behaviours are at work in many animal species. Which? The bee? Ants? This is what the collective quiz “Questions for sheep” tries to guess. Further on, a multimedia game, “The Eye of the Foulologist”, offers the public the opportunity to exercise their gaze to identify the characteristic behaviours of pedestrians. Without knowing it, we use them almost systematically and thus make traffic much more fluid

• Digital crowds : analysis of a less dense and remote crowd. Even at a distance, we are in contact and form networks, called “small worlds”. The visitor understands that rumours, which are conducive to ensuring the cohesion of a group, have existed for a long time and have not waited for social networks to manifest themselves

• Between Crowds and Groups : How do you go from the crowd to the group? What are the differences?
• Bad reputation : this last part of the exhibition aims to break down preconceived ideas about crowds, historically perceived as uncontrollable and dangerous. It was also an opportunity to question the notion of panic in crowd situations

• On the other side of the mirror : the visitor is transformed for a moment into a real “foulologist”