aixcentric

The annual Nuit Européenne des Musées takes place on Saturday and some of our local museums will be putting on extra-special activities to welcome all their visitors.

Here’s what will be open in Aix:

Muséum d’histoire naturelle, Parc Saint-Mitre, Atelier de Cézanne, Fondation Vasarely, Palais de l’Archevêché, Pavillon de Vendôme, Musée Estienne de Saint-Jean and the Musée Granet.  They will be open free of charge from 19h to midnight.

It will be a special evening at the Pavillon de Vendome when the students from the local école supérieure d’art d’Aix en Provence will be lighting up the façade of the elegant old building at 21:30.  At the Fondation Vasarely, there will be a free opportunity to wander round the 44 monumental op art works, or take part in guided tours to learn more about them.  There will be music throughout the evening.

At the Musée Granet, there will be modern dance sessions from the Ballet Preljocaj at 20:30, 21:30 and 22:30.  More here http://www.museegranet-aixenprovence.fr/evenements/prochainement/nuit-europeenne-des-musees.html

There will be a navette service from the town to Cezanne’s studio, le parc Saint-Mitre and la Fondation Vasarely.

Alternatively, it would be a good opportunity to have a look at the museums in other towns, most of which will be celebrating the Nuit Européenne des Musées. 

Over in Arles for instance, there’s free entry to the new Van Gogh exhibition at the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh (review in post to follow), or you can visit the Musée Departmental Arles Antique which has just been elevated to 3 stars by Michelin and so deserves it, or the Musée Reattu which has a pop-up show of ‘Gitans!’, photos by Lucien Clergue.

In the opposite direction, the Musée Bonnard at Le Cannet is free entry. You can see the beautiful Bonnard paintings with an accompaniment of electro-pop.  Details here http://www.museebonnard.fr/votre-visite/evenements/240-nuit-des-musees

What a cultural feast!