Le Creux de l’Enfer – Contemporary art center of national interest

For over 30 years, the art center has been showcasing the very best in national and international contemporary artistic creation, and inviting artists to produce immersive works in collaboration with local players. Through an annual program of solo and group exhibitions, a series of meetings and conferences closely linked to(…)

For over 30 years, the art center has been showcasing the very best in national and international contemporary artistic creation, and inviting artists to produce immersive works in collaboration with local players. Through an annual program of solo and group exhibitions, a series of meetings and conferences closely linked to these exhibitions, as well as mediation initiatives and exceptional public events, the art center also aims to create the most favorable conditions for encounters between art and the public. One example of this is the Samedis d’enfer (Saturdays in Hell), programmed during each exhibition, which bring together a multitude of artistic proposals, including workshops for children, guided tours of exhibitions, concerts, performances and other public events.

Nourished by multiple influences, between industry and nature, gesture and thought, the Creux de l’enfer defines a project that is as experimental as it is accessible, demanding as it is generous, cutting-edge as it is convivial.

A contemporary art center housed in the former Creux de l’Enfer cutlery factory, permanently closed in 1956, the Creux de l’Enfer originated in the cultural decentralization policy initiated by Jack Lang in 1985. It opened in 1988, three years after the Symposium national de sculpture monumentale métallique, organized by the municipality of Thiers, of which several creations remain scattered in and around the town.
Le Creux de l’enfer is one of fifty French contemporary art centers subsidized by the French Ministry of Culture, whose operations are modelled on the German “Kunsthallen” model, places in which artists are highly involved : Le Creux de l’enfer devotes its entire space to a program of temporary exhibitions (renewed twice a year) and events, developed in collaboration with guest artists.

Since October 2019, it has been awarded the label “center d’art contemporain d’intérêt national” (contemporary art center of national interest), making it the first labelled contemporary art center in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. At the helm of this “boat” on the Durolle is Sophie Auger-Grappin, who, after more than 20 years in the Ile-de-France region, chose to leave Paris and an art center in the Yvelines for Thiers, with artistic projects on a national scale for the other capital of cutlery.

Since 2025, Le Creux de l’Enfer has been renovated, enlarged and now also deploys its artistic and cultural project in the Le May factory, linked to the Le Creux de l’Enfer factory by a covered footbridge. Thanks to this work, a completely new visitor itinerary has been set up, with new spaces accessible to the public (a lower room right next to the river, a belvedere with an unmissable view of the valley, a small factory where activities and workshops can be enjoyed…) and an exhibition area of almost 1000 m2. The Fabre/Speller agency – already responsible for the transformation of Le Creux de l’Enfer in 1988 – was in charge of the project, and collaborated with architect-engineer Alexandre Bagros-Murat and designer Olivier Vadrot for the furniture and interior fittings.