CAIRN, Informal Art Center for Research on Nature
Free admission to temporary exhibitions
CAIRN center d’art presents three exhibitions in an exhibition room in the Musée Promenade park.exhibitionsfrom early April to late November. This time, work from the outside world is placed within four walls in a continuous interrogation of itself and the geography of the places that surround us.
Contemporary art
The outdoor art collection.
Each trail is punctuated by works by internationally renowned artists invited by CAIRN center d’art: Andy Goldsworthy, Joan Fontcuberta, Paul-Armand Gette, Catherine Marcogliese, Sylvie Bussières… Most were produced during artist residencies. These installations offer an original approach to discovering the park.
The water trail
Winding along the water’s edge and under the trees, this refreshing trail offers a variety of atmospheres. It is punctuated by artistic installations and invites you to meditative discovery of the site. It gets as close as possible to the Grande Cascade.
- Walking time: about 25 minutes
- Difficulty: medium, various areas with stairs, progressive gradient
- Height difference: 60 metres
The Cairns Trail
Andy Goldsworthy created this trail in 1998. This British artist is one of the leading exponents of Land Art: a movement in which the artist invests nature and landscapes to create a sometimes ephemeral work from materials collected in nature.
The Cairns Trail takes its name from the five water-cairns. From top to bottom, the first is dry; in the next three, you can hear the water without seeing it; it gushes out from the last to rejoin the natural environment.
Water circulates inside the sculptures, like a poetic metaphor for the Saint-Benoît spring, at once underground, invisible and gushing …
- Walking time: about 15 minutes
- Difficulty: medium, various zones with stairs
- Height difference: 60 metres
Kamaishi Japanese Garden
This garden was created in honor of the town of Kamaishi in Japan, twinned with Digne-les-Bains since 1994. The Japanese commissioned a cast of the famous ammonite slab they installed in the town.
The Kamaishi garden symbolizes the journey of life. To grasp its full meaning, you need to explore it from bottom to top. Along the way, blooms are staggered in time and space, so that each season corresponds to the ages of life. When you cross the bridge, you enter the spirit world…
The butterfly garden
Thanks to the water from the Saint-Benoît spring and a specific environment, in a climate that is both Mediterranean and mountainous, the park of the Musée-Promenade is a mecca for biodiversity. To create an oasis suitable for feeding and breeding Lepidoptera, the plants in the butterfly garden have been carefully selected. From April to November, over a hundred species of native butterflies can be observed in the wild. Come and discover these endangered pollinating insects that are so important to our ecosystem.
Guided tour of the Butterfly Garden
included in admission price
An interpreter will share her passion, anecdotes and a wealth of surprising information about these incredible multicolored insects, the jewels of the Geopark’s biodiversity.
Guided tours are available at 10:30 a.m. (Monday to Friday in July and August; Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from September to November). You’ll be amazed at how much time passes!
The Maison des Remparts and its exhibition rooms
Located on the heights of the Parc Saint Benoît, the Maison des Remparts offers exhibition rooms with a scientific theme. Discover local fossils, butterflies, natural hazards and much more…
