An exhibition that you can only book online? In part of a museum that isn’t even open yet? Intriguing… Here are the details.

The mother of French artist Sophie Calle died a few years ago, on the 15th March (despite having predicted that she would pass away on the 13th), and she was quite a character by all accounts. The title of the exhibition is inspired by the various names she had over her lifetime: Rachel, Monique, Szyndler, Calle, Pagliero, Gonthier, Sindler… She loved being the centre of attention, a beautiful woman, a woman who left a strong impression, much like her daughter.

For those of you who can read French, please do read this quick article from French magazine “Les nIrockuptibles’ which starts with “we never laughed so much as at the funeral for Sophie Calle’s mother”, where you’ll learn that she boasted of having had at least 4,000 lovers, and that she used to introduce herself to people as ‘Ava Gardner’. A character, to be sure, all of which makes seeing this new exhibition – dedicated to her by her daughter – even more inviting.If the subject matter is intriguing, the exhibition itself is also a quirky one. First of all, the only way to get ticket is to book online on the site of the Palais de Tokyo. Also, the exhibition takes place in a basement area of the building that not yet part of the museum, 9,000m² of empty space that is currently being worked on for official opening in 2012. For this reason, only 30 people can visit at a time, once every hour, on the hour, from midday to 11pm. To learn more about the work being done (in French only unfortunately), click here.

Sophie Calle’s Raquel, Monique exhibition is at the Palais de Tokyo (here) until 27th November 2010.

Open verey day except Monday from midday to midnight, every hour on the hour by booking here.