An exhibition dedicated to French singer Edith Piaf, whose ballads about love and sorrow turned her into an international icon, has opened in Paris to mark the centenary of her birth.<br /><br /> Among the 400 objects on show at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France are posters, letters, manuscripts, photographs, film clips and even her signature black dress. <br /><br /> “Thanks to this layout and to the audio-guide, which offers an extra sound dimension to the exhibition, you get a real taste of Piaf’s universe, or should I say of her universes, and we hope that visitors will really enjoy the show from beginning to end,” said curator Joël Huthwohl.<br /><br /> Edith Piaf had a song for every occasion, most of which mirrored the drama of her colourful life.<br /><br /> The daughter of street performers, she was abandoned by her mother and spent part of her childhood in a brothel run by her grandmother. The singer later said she believed her weakness for men came from mixing with prostitutes. I thought that when a boy called
