Designed by architect Jean Nouvel, the museography has a permanent display of 3,500 pieces on 5,300 m² and has nearly 3,500 m² of temporary exhibitions. Each privatization might include with a visit, private or not, of the collections area temporary exhibitions.

The collections area is a unique and open space home to a collection of 3,500 pieces arranged in four geographical area: Oceania, Asia, Africa and the Americas. The museography veils the pieces in a shadowy light that instills poetry, emotion and disorientation and breaks with traditional museums. The focus is shifted to the historical depth of the cultures as well as on the signification diversity of the pieces.

In the East mezzanine, case exhibitions are based on collections and on the 300,000 pieces kept in the museum’s reserve and presented in the East Mezzanine under specific themes.

The West mezzanine is the venue for anthropology exhibitions on the main structuring themes of human relationships that encourage visitors to ponder great universal questions: creation, belief, initiation, growth, conquest…

The Garden Gallery is located under the access ramp leading to the Collections area. Its soft lines and whiteness break with the rest of the museum and accentuate its mission: hold two yearly international temporary exhibitions. This vast space on the ground floor is designed to modulate and adapt to different scenographies.