Collections

Photolibrary Collections

The EFEO's collection of photographs and glass plates constitutes an exceptional documentary resource (archaeology, statuary, architecture, epigraphy, ethnography, etc.) covering many different countries (Cambodia, Vietnam, India, China, Thailand, Laos, etc.). Based on photographs taken during archaeological excavations and expeditions carried out by the School since 1910, the collection gradually expanded thanks to a number of gifts (the Dalet, Bacot, Boulbet, and Bénisti holdings, among others). The photographs, most of them as yet unpublished, will all eventually be digitised.

The photographic collection is of major historic interest. Some of the images feature archaeological sites and monuments before they suffered the irreparable effects of war and pillage; used in conjunction with diaries from archaeological excavations, they make it possible to recreate the way in which restoration work and research was conducted on a day-to-day basis.

Some figures:

  • CAMBODIA: 30,000 indexed digital photos (archaeology, architecture, statuary, iconography, epigraphy, ethnography, etc.);
  • VIETNAM: approximately 7,000 photos (archaeology, iconography, museum collections, etc.) as well as 1,500 indexed digital photos of the Champa region;
  • CHINA: approximately 3,000 photos (archaeology, ethnology, art, museography, graphic documents, etc.);
  • INDIA: several thousand photos;
  • LAOS: 3,000 photos, of which approximately 1,200 dealing with ethnology;
  • SIAM: approximately 2,000 photos (archaeology, various sites, museum collections, etc.)
  • 7,000 glass plates - mostly of Cambodia and Vietnam - have been digitised (the H. Marchal, H. Parmentier, J. Bacot, L. Finot, Ch. Carpeaux collections).
EFEO News
Research project support manager
Paris, France, 20 September 2025
The research project support manager will support the EFEO's teacher-researchers in preparing responses to calls for proposals in the field of research in the humanities and social sciences, at the national (ANR, etc.), European (ERC, etc.) and international levels.

Application deadline: September, 20, 2025.

Learn more
Library
Paris, France, 17 September 2025
Due to the strike announced tomorrow, Thursday, September 18, 2025 the EFEO library in Paris will be exceptionally closed all day.

It is open at its usual times, from Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm.
Please make your book reservation requests via the catalogue, and your archive consultation requests via the form on https://archives.efeo.fr/ (bottom left of the home page).

Consult the catalogs and digital tools:
Books and periodicals catalog
- Archives and manuscripts catalog
- Digital heritage library

Please check the EFEO's Facebook page and Twitter account regularly for any updates to the conditions of public access.
New Publication
Pondicherry,

A Manual on the Practice of Haṭhayoga
An Edition and Translation of the Pune Manuscript of the Haṭhābhyās

By Jason BIRCH, Mark SINGLETON and James MALLINSON 

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New Publication
Pondicherry,

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Lecture
Paris, France, 18 June 2025
On the occasion of the exhibition Angkor Royal Bronzes: Art of the Divine presented at the Guimet - Musée national des arts asiatiques until September 8, of which he is co-curator, Brice Vincent will present "Bronzes royaux d'Angkor, un art du divin: nouveaux regards sur la métallurgie du cuivre dans le Cambodge angkorien". This lecture is organised jointly by the Association des Amis d'Angkor and the EFEO.

At 5.30 p.m. in the Grand Salon of the Maison de l'Asie, subject to availability.