Welcome to the MICG

50 years after its creation, the Museum of Printing of Lyon became the Museum of Printing and Graphic Communication. A change of name along with a renewed museography and a new visual identity.

Created in 1964 by the master-printer from Lyon Maurice Audin, the Museum of Printing has grown more and more significant over the course of fifty years within the graphic world, by means of its rich collections as well as through its noteworthy exhibitions and numerous international collaborations. The museum's fiftieth anniversary was an opportunity to modernize its organization by dedicating a large part of it to the last fifty years of graphic creation in France and abroad.

A wider typology of our collections

In order to give an account of the changes in the graphic world and industries, the Museum diversified its collections over the course of fifty years, ranging from Gutenberg's 42-line Bible to today's daily paper, as well as bus tickets, advertising posters, railroad signs or Johnny Halliday's record sleeves. Thousands of ephemera are displayed at the same level as "noble" objects like books and prints. 19^th and 20^th-century printed or graphic objects which have entered the collections help assess both the formidable rise of the printed matter in the modern world and the prolific creativity of past times.

Reasons for the museum's reorganization

The selection and reorganization of the permanent collections which cover six centuries of graphic production meet with three goals :

– accounting for the diversity of printings throughout the evolution of society which has grown more and more complex and eager of information,

– explaining why we print,

– breaking down the reasons for specific forms given to specific printings.

By giving answers to these three questions, the Museum aims at providing visitors with landmarks and keys to understand the graphic world.

A new graphic design by Bureau 205

With its refurbished premises and new organization, the Museum celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with a brand new look.

Bureau 205 (Damien Gautier, Thomas Leblond) was indeed in charge of the graphic and scenographic implementation of the collections and the new visual identity of the MICG. Bureau 205 aimed to develop the Museum's visual choice evoking both its historical richness and its modernity. This preoccupation also applies to the museum's communication tools (printed or digital): website, newsletter, posters, leaflets, invitation, etc.

1er étage — Section 3 - Printing in Gutenberg's time

Affiche de l'exposition Voir ! © B205 — Exhibition poster Voir 50 ans de changements

A temporary exhibition introducing the new museum

On November 12 2014, the Mayor of Lyon launched the new museum and its exhibition entitled SEEING! 50 years of changes (13 November 2014–1 March 2015), showing the changes which transformed both graphic industries and the museum's collections.

The prints and objects exhibited give an account of the history of the technological innovations and the uses of the printed matter, while showing that our collections gradually opened to new fields.

The exhibition also featured numerous donators whose generosity enabled to constitute near 50% of the museum's collections. Many documents were then displayed for the first time; either usual or unusual, they all appearred relevant to the history of graphic communication.

The "Guide déraisonné"

The Guide déraisonné des collections du Musée de l’imprimerie et de la communication graphique is part of the museum's refurbishment and the celebrations around its fiftieth anniversary. 50 figures of the graphic world get to describe their crush for a specific work or object within the museum's collections. These texts, either intellectual or intimate, are all imbued with a sensibility for the printed matter and make the typology of the museum's collections appear in a rather unusual way (Éditions 205, graphisme Bureau 205, on sale at the gift shop, 19,5€).

New workshops, schedule and activities

Since we care about having a wider public and school groups at the museum, we have set up new workshops, themed tours of the museum and activities about graphic techniques. See more on the Activités/publics web page, via email at resa-mil@mairie-lyon.fr or on our online ticket office (click here Billetterie).

Take a look at our collections

5.2 Alex Steinweiss Emperor Concerto (Beethoven), Rudolf Serkin avec Bruno Walter et le New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Columbia Masterworks, 1948

Visite guidée | L'Hôtel de la Couronne