A totally original scenic, musical and visual work, La Nuit des hiéroglyphes will be premiered on September 27, 2022 at the Institut de France, at 8 p.m., 200 years to the day after its discovery. An exceptional anniversary requires an exceptional initiative. Two centuries after the deciphering of the hieroglyphs by Champollion, and on the very site of the event, the Institut de France is organizing the national commemoration of this bicentenary. On September 27, 1822, Jean-François Champollion revealed his fascinating discovery to the scholarly world, during a memorable academic session at the Institut de France. A few days earlier, after hard work in his house at 28, rue Mazarine, he had finally understood how to decipher the hieroglyphs inscribed on the “Rosetta Stone”.
The creation of La Nuit des hiéroglyphes, commissioned by the Institut de France, is part of the policy of France Mémoire, the mission of national commemorations, which renews the forms of memorial events by associating artists and authors of today. today. By mobilizing creation in the service of memory, the 21st century makes known to our contemporaries, thanks to the artistic language of our time, a genius of the 19th century and the civilization he revealed to the world. In the auditorium of the Institute inaugurated in 2019, the harp (with Clara Izambert), the piano (with Maroussia Gentet), the percussions (with Morgan Mermoud and Pierre Tomassi), according to an original composition by David Chaillou, will accompany the story written and performed by Benjamin Lazar, with dancer Raphaëlle Delaunay. The projections prepared by videographer Joseph Paris will show Champollion's manuscripts.