Pascal Rousseau joined the Beaux-Arts de Paris, at the beginning of the 2019 academic year, as a professor of theoretical education and art history. He is also, since 2011, professor of art history at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. A specialist in historical avant-gardes and the links between the arts, (para)sciences and technical cultures, he has curated exhibitions such as "Aux origines de l'abstraction" (Musée d'Orsay, 2003) and "Cosa mentale. Art and telepathy in the 20th century" (Centre Pompidou, Metz, 2015).

He is currently curating the exhibition entitled "Hypnosis. Art and hypnotism from Mesmer to the present day" at the Nantes Museum of Fine Arts. From Mesmer's magnetic fluid to the hypnosis practised by Charcot at the Salpêtrière, from Freud to Lacan, from the Surrealists to the most contemporary practices, he proposes a fascinating visual history of hypnosis and links for the first time the artistic practices and cultural history of hypnotism.

As guest of honour, director Joris Lacoste will also talk about his work on hypnosis.