Le Creux de l'Enfer - Contemporary art center of national interest

Located in the emblematic Vallée des Usines site in Thiers, Le Creux de l'Enfer is spread over two exceptional industrial buildings above the Durolle River.
For more than 30 years, the art center has showcased the best of both national and international contemporary art and has invited artists to create works through immersive residencies, collaborating with local stakeholders. Through an annual program of solo and group exhibitions, a series of talks and conferences closely tied to these exhibitions, as well as outreach initiatives and special public events, the art center also aims to create the most favorable conditions for bringing art and the public together. A case in point is “Samedis d’enfer,” scheduled during each exhibition, which brings together a multitude of artistic offerings, including workshops for children, guided exhibition tours, and concerts, performances, and other public events.

Drawing on a wide range of influences—spanning industry and nature, action and thought—Le Creux de l’Enfer embodies a project that is as experimental as it is accessible, as demanding as it is generous, and as cutting-edge as it is welcoming.

A contemporary art center housed in the former Creux de l’Enfer cutlery factory—which closed permanently in 1956—it traces its origins to the cultural decentralization policy launched under the leadership of Jack Lang in 1985. It opened in 1988, three years after the National Symposium on Monumental Metal Sculpture, organized by the municipality of Thiers, several of whose works remain scattered throughout the city and its surroundings.
Le Creux de l’Enfer is one of fifty French contemporary art centers accredited by the Ministry of Culture, modeled after the German “Kunsthallen”—spaces in which artists are deeply 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 held the designation “contemporary art center of national interest,” making it the first contemporary art center in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region to receive this designation. At the helm of this “vessel” on the Durolle River is Sophie Auger-Grappin, who, after more than 20 years in the Île-de-France region, chose to leave Paris and an art center in the Yvelines for Thiers, bringing with her artistic projects of national scope for this “other capital”—the capital of cutlery.

Since 2025, the Creux de l’Enfer has been renovated, expanded, and has also extended its artistic and cultural program to the May factory, connected to the Creux de l’Enfer factory by a covered walkway. Thanks to this work, a brand-new visitor route has been created, featuring new spaces open to the public (a lower hall right next to the river, an observation deck with an unmissable view of the valley, a small workshop where visitors can enjoy activities and hands-on sessions...) and an exhibition space of nearly 1,000 m². The project was managed by the Fabre/Speller architectural firm—which had previously overseen the transformation of the Creux de l’Enfer in 1988—and was further enriched by the collaboration with architect-engineer Alexandre Bagros-Murat and designer Olivier Vadrot for the furniture and interior design.