What an audacious gamble to develop contemporary art in a rural area! The geographical and geological particularities of this territory have made its strength. Since the 90s, its mountains and valleys have attracted many internationally renowned artists such as Andy Goldsworthy, herman de vries, Joan Fontcuberta, Paul-Armand Gette, Richard Nonas, Mark Dion… All of whom have drawn their inspiration from the area. Their peregrinations and encounters with local people have resulted in a collection of works scattered throughout the region.
THE SPECIAL HISTORY OF MUSÉE GASSENDI AND CAIRN CENTER D'ART
The Musée Gassendi is behind this innovative project: the L’Art en montagne Collection. He has made art one of the special features of the UNESCO Geopark territory.
Founded in 1885, the Gassendi Museum has had a dual vocation in the arts and sciences from the outset. Its collections combine local history, fine art and contemporary art through a scientific prism, where cabinets of curiosities coexist with vast exhibition rooms.
Since 1995, the Gassendi Museum has been committed to showcasing its works outside its walls: a museum in the mountains. To achieve this, he deploys outdoor art installations: visitors, now hikers, follow forgotten paths to discover a work anchored in its natural setting. This inspiration comes from the artistic movement known as “land art”.
Also on the initiative of the Musée Gassendi, the CAIRN art center was created in 2000. As an artistic laboratory supporting and disseminating contemporary creation in rural areas, CAIRN continues the work of the Musée Gassendi with the production of site-specific works.
CAIRN center d’art also offers three exhibitions from early April to late November, which the public can discover free of charge in an exhibition room in the park of the Musée Promenade. This time, work from the outside world is placed inside the walls in a continuous interrogation between itself and the geography of the places that surround us. Currently at CAIRN art center…
On the road to the memory of the Earth, explore the northern part of the UNESCO Geopark and enter the depths of its geological history. Surprising works of art are superbly integrated into the landscape, such as herman de vries’ windows, which open up a field of the invisible, that of the past.
Refuge d’Art is a single work of art that takes ten days to complete. Conceived by British artist Andy Goldsworthy in partnership with the Musée Gassendi and the UNESCO Geopark of Haute-Provence, this route, the only one of its kind in Europe, crosses 150 km of the Geopark’s exceptional landscapes and combines contemporary art, hiking and the promotion of natural and cultural heritage in a unique way.
Linking three Sentinelles (dry-stone cairns created by the artist in the heart of three valleys), the route follows ancient paths and crosses the traces of a once intense agricultural life.
This unconventional artistic project raises genuinely anthropological questions about the link between the work and its installation site, which itself bears the traces of both geological and human history.
Find out more about booking art huts.
These routes can be taken independently or accompanied by a guide. L’Art en chemin is an association of innkeepers and mountain guides trained in the discovery of these works of art.
In the park of the Musée Promenade, at the bend of a path or along a stream, the Musée Gassendi’s collection of contemporary artworks offers a diversity of forms and materials, always with a view to blending in with its surroundings.
From Sylvie Bussières’ Fountain of Teapots to Fabien Lerat’s Point of Reflection, visitors stroll along paths that will take them all the way to the museum, where exhibition rooms await.
To find out more, discover all the works in the park.
The Art en montagne guide offers 22 contemporary art walks in the Haute-Provence Geopark.
On sale at Musée Gassendi and CAIRN art center, in French and English. (15 euros)
