Museum Institutions
Lovers of the fine arts will not be able to ignore the appeal of Poitiers' Musée Sainte-Croix, built in 1974 in the purest Brutalist style on the site of the eponymous abbey. You'll also be drawn to the museum's exceptional Camille Claudel collection, part of a bequest from Paris collector Henri Brisson (1953). You'll also come across the mythical bronzes La Valse and L'Abandon! You'll also come across Auguste Rodin, Aristide Maillol, Ingres, Odilon Redon, Gustave Moreau and even Mondrian, at the turn of an unexpected landscape. Less than 1 km away, take a look at the grand staircase of the town hall (Second Empire) to admire, among its suite of academic works, 2 pastiches of frescoes by Pierre Puvis de Chavanne, official painter of the Third Republic (1874).
In Niort, the Musée Bernard-d'Agesci, inaugurated in 2006, stands out for its highly contemporary scenography and its predominantly regional collection (paintings, Parthenay earthenware, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' work, etc.). The Henri-Barré (Thouars) and Turpin (Parthenay) collectors' museums are also well worth a visit.
Rendezvous with contemporary art
Oiron, a Renaissance château and, since 1993, the sublime setting for the multi-sensory Curios & Mirabelia (Plaine-et-Vallées) collection, is undoubtedly the most prestigious contemporary art center in the Poitou region. Works and installations by the likes of Christian Boltanski, Daniel Spoerri and Claude Rutault parade through this curiosity cabinet. These two institutions of national interest also contribute to the cultural influence of the Deux-Sèvres region: in Niort, push open the door of the excellent Villa Pérochon, center for contemporary photographic art, which organizes the Rencontres de la jeune photographie internationale in April; in Thouars, visit the neo-Gothic chapel of Jeanne-d'Arc.
In the Vienne region, land in Rouillé on this unique platform in France: Rurart, associated with the Xavier Bernard-Poitiers Venours agricultural high school, created in 1995 and under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture. The focus is on digital art, playful electronics and DIY. Fans of street art and urban culture will also want to stop off in Poitiers, between the Confort Moderne contemporary art center, the legendary concert hall of the Counter-Culture movement, and the Montbernage graffiti under the voie Malraux bridge. You can also take a tour of the galleries and designer boutiques on rue Grand-Rue or rue de la Cathédrale.
Land of the 7th art
Did you know that the Poitou region was home to some of the greatest names in cinema? That many great films have been shot here? Among them, Henri-Georges Clouzot (in Niort), Laurent Cantet (in Melle) and Anémone (who died in Poitiers); among other popular films, the legendary Diaboliques (1955) and Pleure pas la bouche pleine (1973), Van Gogh (1991, in Saint-Remy-sur-Creuse), Joan of Arc (1999, in Poitiers) and Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004, in Montmorillon). Alongside your cinematic peregrinations, stop off in Poitiers in early December for the Poitiers Film Festival, created by Henri Langlois, founder of the Cinémathèque française. Here you can enjoy some 150 films and shorts selected from the cream of young international filmmaking. Are you passionate about cinema and ornithology? Then head for Ménigoute, for the FIFO (Festival international du film ornithologique), a not-to-be-missed event for wildlife documentaries. This small village in the Gâtine region (79) is also home to IFFCAM, the only training center of its kind in Europe, devoted entirely to nature films.
