An important component of French identity, fashion is heritage, industry, craftsmanship – but is it art? The question divides, the Festival of Art History (FHA), which takes place from June 5 to 7 at the Château de Fontainebleau, has decided. This year, it is not in the admiring eye of the exhibition public that it shines, but under the scientific gaze of researchers and artists who study it from all angles.
The 2026 edition of the FHA recognizes fashion as an artistic medium in its own right, responding to the ambition of the National Institute of Art History (INHA) to “make the discipline a living field, open to new objects”summarizes Anne-Solène Rolland, general director of INHA, organizer of the Festival. The theme marks a step in the programming, which since the 2019 edition on the theme of “people”, has moved towards societal subjects which break down the barriers of art history. In 2024, the popular theme of sport is in the spotlight, echoing the Olympic atmosphere in Paris.
Over three days, more than 300 events will welcome speakers from various backgrounds. Key figure of the event, the Moroccan architect and anthropologist Salima Naji will host the inaugural conference on the links between material and immaterial cultures in Morocco. In this rich program, everyone can find what they are looking for. For history and geography buffs, a round table traces the circulation of textiles in Central and West Africa. The most curious can attend conferences on more specific themes, such as the uses of shoes in preclassical Greece. Cinephiles are not left out, and enjoy the screening of Papicha by Mounia Meddour, which tells the story of a young girl dreaming of becoming a stylist during the dark decade in Algeria.
Each year, a country is invited to participate in the Festival, and this new edition also stands out at this level: Morocco is the first African country represented at Fontainebleau. A choice that allows us to question fashion not only as an aesthetic object, but also as a marker of identity, because the sociology of clothing in Morocco articulates a variety of traditions and techniques.
It is no coincidence that fashion is the theme of this edition: it is increasingly visible on the artistic scene. In recent years, museums have become the new podiums for haute couture. In 2025, archives from Schiaparelli, Balmain and Balenciaga mark the Louvre’s art objects department. Until July 12, 2026, the Musée du Quai Branly brings its textile collections into dialogue with creations from the contemporary African scene. Research in art history is also showing growing interest in the discipline, confirmed by the opening of a chair in 2023 Fashion Heritage at the University of Paris I.
The links between art and fashion make visible a phenomenon of reconfiguration of the artistic scene, where major brands now occupy the forefront. Luxury houses promote their production thanks to museum prestige, which they reinvest in their own institutional strategy. In 2024, the Cartier Foundation will inaugurate the first major European retrospective of Olga de Amaral, contributing to the recognition of textile work.
Created in 2011 by the Ministry of Culture, the FHA is organized each year at the Château de Fontainebleau for 3 days, between the end of May and the beginning of June. Fontainebleau is 40 minutes away by train from Paris (Gare de Lyon), where buses are available to the Château. All Festival events are accessible free of charge and without reservation, subject to availability, with the exception of film screenings at the Cinéma Ermitage, screenings of which are €5 excluding reduced rates.
The courtyard of the White Horse at the Château de Fontainebleau.
