The Paralympic Games are being held in Paris from 28th August – 8th September 2024, and the Pantheon, literally just in front of the Hotel des Grands Hommes and Hotel les Dames du Panthéon, has a new exhibition explaining the fairly recent creation of the games and their importance for the inclusion of differently abled people in society.

You may not know (but you’ll soon learn if you attend this exhibition) that it was the Second World War that inadvertently helped birth the Paralympic Games, created for former soldiers confined to wheelchairs after being injured in battle. Later, in the 1970s, the games would become more open, accepting other forms of motor, sensory or intellectual handicaps.

Further advances came in the following decades, and it was only in 2012 for the London Games that the event started clearly advocating for a more inclusive society.

From the wooden leg race in 1894(!) to the first Paris Paralympic Games, the exhibition looks at the even’s evolution (and that of society), shows the diversity of sports on offer and gives insight into the other events for the differently ables, such as the Deaflympics and Special Olympics.

The exhibition’s layout has been carefully designed to be as accessible as possible, with the height of presentations lowered and screen inclinations adapted. There are tactile drawings and objects to touch, audiodescription for content, videos with international sign language…

The visit of the monument’s crypt has also been had its information adapted for those with reduced mobility.

Linked with the exhibition, on Saturday 7th September to mark the end of the Paralympic Games, two concerts (6.30 and 9pm) and being performed by Paris Chamber Orchestra. Seat are 10-50€, and you’ll find more info in French and online tickets sales here.

And instead of a catalogue, you can buy a box set of twelve 3D plaques describing the games through touch – the sports, the passing of the torch, the opening ceremony…

The set costs 60€ here at your local Amazon.

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The exhibition Paralympic History: From Integration in Sport to Social Inclusion (1948- 2024) is at the Pantheon (here) until 29th September 2024

Open every day from 10am-6.30pm. Last ticket 45 minutes before closing

Pantheon admission (including the exhibition): 13€

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