Avant-garde architectures that has become a work of art, mythical places which have been rehabilitated, parks as open-air galleries - the museum experience is no longer boring nowadays as this list of ten museums in the regions proves!
It’s now possible to see images, videos, and works of art from anywhere – but it’s necessary to add a little extra to the artistic experience in order to move visitors who have become more demanding. Museums and art centres have understood this well, calling on the greatest architects to design their buildings to stage their exhibitions. So this summer, everyone to the museums!
1- Muséon Arlatan / Arles
After 11 years of closure and a colossal renovation project the Muséon Arlatan is visible proof that heritage can be showcased in a contemporary way. Created by the Provençal poet Frédéric Mistral in 1899, it unveils the treasures of Provence and all the traditions linked to the Camargue. The new staircases and their mirror effect are astonishing and the museography which evokes the history of the territory in four stages – from the founding of Arles by the Romans until today – is just exceptional. With signage in several languages (including Provençal), reconstructions of stunning interior scenes, staging of costumes and creative jewellery, we take pleasure in delving into the roots of the city.
Where? 29 Rue de la République, 13200, Arles
When? Everyday except Monday, 10:00 to 18:00
How much? 8€ (Réduit 5 €) Famille 12 €
Questions? info.museon@departement13.fr / 04 13 31 51 99
Link? Par ICI
2 – Luma / Arles
More than a museum, Luma Arles is a vast living cultural centre. It offers exhibition venues, artist residencies, and creative experience laboratories. The spectacular tower designed by architect Frank Gehry is its beacon that reflects and illuminates the contemporary creation. The construction of this tower around a central trunk was a real technical challenge. Made of 11,500 blocks of stainless steel – each unique – its structure offers 53 Glassboxes, each of them giving a unique point of view on Arles, just as the terraces offer a particular panorama on the city.
The architecture of the building – the levels, the top and the bottom, the many breaks that create perspectives, and the mirror effects – has been designed to contribute to the loss of your senses. The whole point of this cultural facility is to position itself not as a traditional museum but as an experimental and innovative cultural centre where you are given as much to experience as to see. In the Parc des Ateliers (a former wasteland for repairing and building trains on the former Paris-Lyon Méditerranée line), there are many beautiful buildings whose original industrial names have been retained (Les Forges, the General Mechanics, the Grande Halle and the Electrical Store). Between these buildings, on eleven green hectares, there is a pond and numerous installations and sculptures, the most visible being that of the Austrian artist Franz West – an interlaced pink sculpture 13 meters high facing the Tower – as well as “Seven sliding doors corridor”, a tunnel of sliding mirrors as an invitation to unexpected encounters with yourself or others. Discover more details HERE.
Where? Avenue Victor Hugo, 13200, Arles
When? Everyday from 10:00 to 19:30.
How much Entrée gratuite sur inscription (voir site)
Questions? info@luma-arles.org
Link? Here
3 – Château La Coste / Aix-en-Provence
On the Château la Coste vineyard, twenty minutes from Aix-en-Provence, the Art & Architecture walk is fast becoming one of the most famous in the world. This year the minimalist Gallery suspended above the void by Richard Rogers has just joined the 36 other existing pavilions and art works perfectly integrated into the landscape of illustrious sculptors and architects (discover in detail HERE). You will see works by Renzo Piano, Alexander Calder, Louise Bourgeois, Kengo Kuma, Tadao Ando, Jean Nouvel – Land Art lovers will be in heaven. Two galleries, one in the old cellars refurbished by Jean-Michel Wilmotte and the other in the old wine cellar of La Bastide, as well as the Pavilion by Renzo Piano in the middle of the vineyards also host temporary exhibitions. Also, let’s not forget that we are in a temple of gastronomy; take the opportunity to treat yourselves to a good table in one of the three restaurants and to visit the wine cellars.
Where? 2750 Route De La Cride, 13610, Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade
When? Everyday 10:00 to 20:00
How much? €25 (reductions €12)
Questions? 04 42 61 89 98
Link? Here
4 – Fondation Vasarely / Aix-en-Provence
The Vasarely Foundation is an iconic place of modern 20th century art. It is impossible to say where the work begins and where the edifice ends; that is the beauty of this unique place located on the hills of Jas de Bouffan. This 5000m2 architectural centre built between 1971 and 1976 by the contemporary Franco-Hungarian artist Victor Vasarely, punctuated by black and white circles and made up of cells, is thus visible from afar. We advise you to start your visit on the first floor. The life and work of the artist is described here in different forms, thus providing a better understanding of the works exhibited on the ground floor. This year the Vasarely Foundation celebrates the fiftieth year of its recognition as a public utility and an exhibition recalls, through a rich set of archival documents, original works, texts and photographs, the circumstances of its creation.
Where? 1 Avenue Marcel Pagnol, 13090, Aix-en-Provence
When? Everyday from 10:00 to 18:00
How much? €12 (reductions €9) / children €5
Questions? 04 42 20 01 09
Link? Here
5 – Mucem / Marseille
Since 2013, this museum, which is focussed on the civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean, has become one of the most visited monuments in Marseille.
What architect Rudy Riccioti calls a “vertical casbah” is anything but decorative. Its lace skin (like a Moucharabieh) and its bridges stretched like muscles above a dock to unite the past (Fort Saint Jean) and the future (J4) make it a building with a radical aesthetic that rally the popular vote.
The outdoor spaces are free to access and offer unique views of the city, the port and the sea. Strolling in the Mediterranean garden, discovering courtyards along the passageways, and then going to the Museum through its roof is quite an adventure. The summer exhibition dedicated to Jeff Koons / Pinault Collection is also well worth a visit. We talk about it in detail HERE.
Where? 1 Esplanade du J4, 13002, Marseille
When? Everyday except Tuesday, 10:00 to 19:00 (20:00 in July and August)
How much? €18 (reductions €11)
Questions? 04 84 35 13 13
Link? Here
6 – Friche de l’Escalette / Marseille
The Friche de l’Escalette is a remarkable industrial heritage site made up of the remains of an old lead factory on the Route des Goudes. A setting as strange as it is fascinating which was acquired by Parisian gallery owner and antique dealer Éric Touchaleaume and his family in 2011. Since then he has been constantly renovating the site in order to open new “rooms” open to the sky. In addition to the permanent light architectures (two bungalows by Jean Prouvé that serve as exhibition rooms), contemporary sculptures dot the entire site, up to its heights, where the view of the sea and the neighbouring islands is exceptional. We particularly recommend the totemic installation by François Stahly called “Summer of the Forest” and which seems to have been made for the site. Bariol, Traquandi and Vescovi are the guest artists this year with their installations “Claustra, Terres Baroques, and Soleil Blanc”. Magnificent exhibitions between shadows and light in the midday sun. To discover in detail HERE.
Where? Route des Goudes, Impasse de l’escalette 13008 Marseille
When? From 1 July to 31 August + weekends in September and October
How much? Free
Questions? contact@friche-escalette.com
Link? Here
7 – Fondation Carmignac / Porquerolles
With its turquoise waters and idyllic beaches the island of Porquerolles is already a work of art in itself. But since the Carmignac Foundation moved there three years ago, facing the famous Courtade beach and next to the winery of the same name, there’s now a site that combines nature and culture. Perfectly integrated into the island environment, the foundation offers artistic tours in its beautiful sculpture park. These include the plan of the mirrored island by Jean Denant, the reflecting labyrinth by Jeppe Hein, the giant heads of Ugo Rondinone, and the scratched facade by Vhils. In the different rooms of the villa, the hanging works from its collection and temporary exhibitions are found. The Foundation also awards the Photojournalism Prize each year in support of investigative photographic reporting.
Where? Îles Porquerolles, La Courtade, 83400, Hyères
When? Until 17 October 2021
How much? €15 / reductions €10
Questions? 04 65 65 25 50 / reservation@villacarmignac.com
Link? Here
8 – Hôtels des Arts / Toulon
Located in the heart of the city of Toulon and built at the beginning of the 20th century, this former headquarters of the sub-prefecture now houses an Art Centre which has joined the other cultural centres of the city. The Metropolis has chosen to open up the artistic program of the Hôtel des Arts to the field of design, echoing the initiatives already established in this area such as the Festival Design Parade or the creation of a real higher education campus with the l’Ecole d’Art et de Design TPM and the installation of the l’École Camondo Méditerranée in the new Chalucet area of creativity and knowledge not far from it. Last year the artist Alexandre Benjamin Navet completely painted the facade in a way reminiscent of Italian Renaissance palaces. This summer a beautiful exhibition organised by the Pompidou centre called “Futurissimo, the utopia of Italian design” is to be discovered inside.
Where? 236 boulevard Maréchal Leclerc, 83000, Toulon
When? Until 31 October 2021 / Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 18:00
How much Free
Questions? 04 94 93 37 90 / hoteldesarts@metropoletpm.fr
Link? Here
9 – Fondation Bernard Venet / Le Muy
Bernard Venet is especially known for his giant metal arches which rise towards the skies or, on the contrary, which collapse towards the ground (what he calls his “great collapses”). This foundation, which bears his name, allows visitors to discover all the facets of the artist who as a young man went to New York to rub shoulders with abstraction with Arman as a mentor. It is in the spirit of the Marfa Foundation of his friend Donald Judd, created in the middle of the Texan desert to show his work, that the still lively octogenarian had the idea of also opening his foundation in the Var. On leaving the small town of Le Muy, where he had originally bought hangars to store his monumental works, he bought a magnificent 18th century mill on the banks of a river, filled with works by art of artists whom he met during his youth (Ben, César, Jean Tinguely, Christo, Jacques Villeglé) then many sites where he was able to install his works of extraordinary dimensions, but also those of his friends Sol LeWitt , Carl Andre, Richard Long. Even the swimming pool of this place, with the allure of a Caribbean Eden, is a work by François Morellet. Do not miss the chapel designed by Frank Stella, nor the works of James Turrell, Robert Morris or Larry Bell. With a little luck you may come across the artist on the estate. After having travelled a lot he now spends most of his time in Provence.
Where? 150 Chemin du Moulin des Serres, 83490, Le Muy
When? Until the 1st October 2021, Thursdays and Fridays (10:00 and 16:15 in French / 13:45 in English).
How much? €15 (reductions €8) free to the under 12s
Questions? info@venetfoundation.org
Link? Here
10 – Cap Moderne / Roquebrune Cap-Martin
After five years of renovation work this site dedicated to the architectural avant-garde in the Mediterranean has finally reopened to the public with a renovation that allows you to understand all the modernity of buildings for their time. Built between 1926 and 1929 the Villa D’Eileen Gray and Jean Badovici E-1027 will be joined in the following years on the site by the restaurant “l’Etoile de mer (1948), the shed (1952) then the workshop du Corbusier (1954) and finally the Camping Units (1957), to form what is now collectively called the “Cap Moderne”.
It takes two hours for a small-group tour with a mandatory guide. Reception is in a dedicated building just next to the small Roquebrune Cap-Martin station, where you can already have some information and see models of the site. Once the tickets have been checked you will have to descend a long staircase and walk on the pebble beach for 500 metres then go up a path towards your meeting place. Twenty minutes of magnificent coastal walk but not recommended for people with mobility problems (or high heels!). You will then be amazed by the different constructions and also the gardens with their endemic and exotic plants. As for the sea view….
Where? Avenue de la Gare, 06190 Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
When? Jusqu’au 31 octobre 2021 (Visite tous les jours à 10 et 14 h en Français et anglais)
How much? €18 / reductions €10
Questions? 04 92 15 01 41 / reservation necessary on the website
Link? Here
