Our top picks: the most beautiful exhibitions to see in the regions
Twenty-one regional exhibitions, our current favorites, chosen for what they offer rather than their closing dates. Les Abattoirs in Toulouse presents Miró as a protest artist, Chantilly unveils a pink diamond from its vault, and Ernest Pignon-Ernest is running two venues in Provence. From the MUCEM to the Palais des Papes, from Lyon to Bayonne.
LEE UFAN AT THE PALAIS DES PAPES, AVIGNON Matter, space, time: Lee Ufan works almost exclusively with these elements, a raw stone and a steel plate being enough to define a room. The Palais des Papes opens its most imposing spaces to him, and the exhibition entitled Relatum transforms the monument's spaces into architectural sculptures. The void is as important as what is placed within it.
THE FEASTS OF CHAMBORD
One hundred and eighty-three pieces of lost silverware, reprinted in three dimensions from sixteenth-century engravings. Chambord has inventoried its tables and recreated four meals, from the supper given by Francis I to Charles V in 1539 to a dinner given for Lady Diana. The history of the château can be read through the tableware.
CHAMBORD NATIONAL ESTATE
From September 26, 2026 to January 24, 2027
THE 18TH LYON BIENNIAL
A former locomotive factory, a museum reopened for the occasion, traboules (covered passageways) to explore: the 18th Lyon Contemporary Art Biennale extends far beyond the exhibition halls and uses the city as its map. Its motto, "From one dream to another," is taken literally, from one neighborhood to another.
18TH LYON BIENNIAL - CONTEMPORARY ART
From September 19 to December 13, 2026
JOAN MIRÓ, PROTEST, AT THE ABATTOIRS IN TOULOUSE
Miró has long been portrayed as a creator of joyful signs. The Abattoirs are dedicating their very first exhibition to him and taking the opposite approach: nearly two hundred works showcasing an artist for whom protest is the driving force, and color a weapon. The Toulouse museum has thus presented a compelling counter-portrait.
LES ABATTOIRS, MUSEUM - FRAC OCCITANIE TOULOUSE
From October 3, 2026 to March 7, 2027
CAMILLE CLAUDEL AND BERNHARD HOETGER AT THE CAMILLE CLAUDEL MUSEUM On one side, a bronze storm; on the other, an onyx wave. In 1905, in Eugène Blot's gallery, Bernhard Hoetger's The Storm and Camille Claudel's The Wave hung side by side under the same lighting. The Camille Claudel Museum is recreating this exhibition and restoring to the German sculptor the place he held alongside her.
SCULPTED LIGHT BY ÉMILIE LEMARDELEY
The Mandet Museum in Riom has given Émilie Lemardeley an unprecedented carte blanche, working in blown glass and cast bronze. Decorative objects are replaced by states of transition or crystallized energies. In other words, the pieces appear to freeze a moment of light, to suspend a metamorphosis. The transparency of glass contrasts with bronze and its reflections, creating a dialogue filled with poetry.
MANDET MUSEUM
From June 13, 2026 to January 3, 2027
CARTE BLANCHE TO ERNEST PIGNON-ERNEST
The artist Ernest Pignon-Ernest has created an ephemeral work, pasting drawn figures destined to disappear over time into public spaces. The Ziem Museum is dedicating a retrospective of two hundred works to him, tracing sixty years of creation, from drawings made in Algeria in 1962 to more recent interventions. The exhibition notably revisits his work in Martigues in the 1980s, where his monumental silhouettes took over streets, canals, and industrial walls to awaken the memory of places and those forgotten by history.
Read our full article here
ZIEM MUSEUM
FROM MAY 23 TO DECEMBER 31, 2026
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194 MYSTIFICATION - ARCHITECTURE AND CINEMA
At the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, an exhibition explores the art of illusion, Ancient painting in contemporary cinema. From The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to La Dolce Vita via The Matrix, the exhibition shows how architecture and cinema share the same power: to create credible worlds. Works, sets and installations engage in dialogue with the site, which itself becomes an actor. Here, everything rests on a pact: that of a gaze ready to be deceived.
Read our full article here.
Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans. From May 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027.
From May 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027.
The Pink Diamond at the Château de Chantilly. Stolen a hundred years ago, found hidden in an apple: the Grand Condé, a pink diamond of more than nine carats, has a biography worthy of a detective novel. The Château de Chantilly brings it out of its vault and recounts the investigation as much as the stone itself. A short exhibition, for an object that isn't seen every year.
CHANTILLY CASTLE - CONDÉ MUSEUM
From October 17, 2026 to January 3, 2027
WATER STORIES, IN THE SIMONOW COLLECTION IN VALENCE-SUR-BAÏSE
Between the mineral walls of Flaran Abbey, works from the Simonow Collection flow, drawing their inspiration from the theme of water. Nearly 236 thirty paintings, from the 17th to the 21st century, explore seas, rivers, and storms, between contemplation and power. From Ziem to Monet, by way of Boudin and Courbet, the artists capture, in turn, light, matter, and movement.
FLARAN ABBEY
Until January 9, 2028
ETERNAL EGYPT, PHOTOGRAPHS OF FLORA IN AMIENS
Long overshadowed, the Egypt collection at the Musée de Picardie is reborn after restoration. Restored works, revived colors, legible hieroglyphs: the collection has regained its full vitality. Around sixty pieces, the sensory journey blends rituals, materials, and mythical figures, enriched by a dialogue with the Louvre.
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Museum of Picardy from April 11, 2026 to January 3, 2027.
From April 11, 2026 to January 3, 2027.
Shadows of Naples, Ernest Pignon-Ernest at the Inguimbertine. Between 1988 and 2015, Ernest Pignon-Ernest returned five times to Naples to paste his life-size drawings in the alleyways at night. He then photographed their slow disappearance in the rain and as the inhabitants passed by. The Inguimbertine Library in Carpentras brings together more than two hundred works from this cycle, including some previously unseen pieces: black chalk drawings, screen prints, and photographs of collages that have since faded. The exhibition engages in a dialogue with the library-museum's Italian collections, assembled in the 18th century. The exhibition has already attracted over 19,000 visitors and has been extended until the end of the year.
Read our full article here.
L'INGUIMBERTINE, CARPENTRAS
FROM MAY 23 TO DECEMBER 31, 2026
PASSION COLLECTIONS IN BORDEAUX
At the MusBA, the Passions Collections exhibition presents ten years of acquisitions—paintings, sculptures, and graphic arts—demonstrating the vitality of a museum in perpetual enrichment. The focus is on Bordeaux art from the 18th to the 20th century, with works added to the existing collections.
BORDEAUX MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
From April 1, 2026 to January 4, 2027
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In Mali, along the Niger River, the sogo bò festivals, literally "the animals come out," blend theater, dance, music, and song, and bring life Masks and puppets to the rhythm of drums. The exhibition presents more than one hundred objects and numerous audiovisual materials that recreate this participatory theatre, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where the entire community takes part in the story.
MUSEUM OF CONFLUENCES
From April 3, 2026 to February 2, 2027
MYTHOLOGIES IN BAYONNE
In Bayonne, the Bonnat-Heulleu Museum is hosting its first temporary exhibition since its reopening. The great stories of human history and myths are brought to life, while heroes and heroines from all corners of the world meet. Journey to the heart of age-old traditions and tales without leaving the Pyrénées-Atlantiques!
BONNAT-HELLEU MUSEUM - BAYONNE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
Until November 9, 2026
TREASURES OF THE RENAISSANCE IN THE OISE REGION AT THE MUDO
The MUDO reopens its galleries in the Saint-Pierre wing for Italian art of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, drawn from the collections of the Chaalis estate and Nélie Jacquemart-André. Portraits, banquets, and religious subjects tell the story of a Europe that does not repeat antiquity but reinvents it. Free admission in Beauvais.
MUDO - MUSÉE DE L'OISE
From March 4 to December 31, 2026
LEONOR FINI. LOOK, THEY LOOK LIKE HUMANS
To mark the 30th anniversary of the death of the surrealist painter Leonor Fini, the Musée de l’Hospice Saint-Roch in Issoudun presents an exceptional exhibition bringing together drawings, paintings, engravings, and her famous reconstructed Salon, offering a glimpse into her surreal, whimsical, and profoundly free world.
SAINT-ROCH HOSPICE MUSEUM
From February 14 to December 30, 2026
RED VARIATIONS AT MANE
For its reopening on February 1, the Salagon Museum presents seven new canvases by Yves Zurstrassen, in dialogue with the Romanesque church and the stained-glass windows by Aurélie Nemours. Through rhythms, forms, and shades of red, he creates a subtle echo of the stained glass while revealing the musicality and freedom of his abstraction.
SALAGON MUSEUM AND GARDENS
From February 1 to December 14, 2026
MIRAGES OF THE WORLD, HERVÉ DI ROSA AT LA MALMAISON, CANNES
Forty years of painting on three floors, facing the Croisette. At La Malmaison, Hervé Di Rosa unfolds the transition from Free Figuration to a style of painting created in the four corners of the world, with Ghanaian, Mexican, and Vietnamese artisans. Big eyes, bold colors, dark humor: the figure remains unchanged, the material transforms everything.
LA MALMAISON ART CENTER, CANNES
From July 17 to November 8, 2026
FERNAND LÉGER, BODY IN CELEBRATION, WORLD IN COLOR, AT THE MATISSE MUSEUM
The Henri Matisse Departmental Museum, in Matisse's birthplace, is dedicating its very first exhibition to Fernand Léger. Bold color, bodies in motion, a joie de vivre held as a manifesto, and a dialogue with Nadia Léger, who reminds us that she was a painter before becoming an artist's widow.
HENRI MATISSE DEPARTMENTAL MUSEUM, LE CATEAU-CAMBRÉSIS
From October 17, 2026 to January 27, 2027
Bursts of Laughter! At the Tripostal, Lille
The twenty-two Regional Contemporary Art Funds had never before exhibited everything in one place. The Tripostal brings them together around the often-maligned art form, humor: one hundred and fifty-three works, one hundred and four artists, and the building transformed into a comedy club on Thursday evenings. Lille has its most delightful season yet.
LE TRIPOSTAL, LILLE
From October 9, 2026 to January 3, 2027
