Yves Saint Laurent Museum to host Odette du Puigaudeau exhibition

The Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech will host an exhibition titled ‘In the Footsteps of Odette du Puigaudeau’ from October 3, 2026, to March 7, 2027. The showcase honors the life of the French explorer, ethnologist, designer, and journalist who documented nomadic cultures across the Sahara.

Featuring over 200 items, including photographs, drawings, manuscripts, and audio archives, the exhibition traces du Puigaudeau’s journey through three phases: her early years in France, her desert expeditions through Mauritania and the Sahara alongside Marion Sénones, and her later life in Rabat. Her work is noted for recording the traditional crafts, dwellings, and daily lives of desert communities, as well as petroglyphs in southern Morocco.

After settling in Rabat in 1961, du Puigaudeau worked for Moroccan radio and directed the prehistory office of the Rabat Antiquities Museum. The exhibition is co-curated by Hayate Machache and biographer Monique Vérité, utilizing collections from the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts and the Jardin Majorelle Foundation.