Located in the Vallée des usines, Le Creux de l’enfer is a former cutlery factory that became a contemporary art centre in 1988. It is a place of artistic production with a bold exhibition programme open to all cultures, including sculpture, installation, painting and photography. The art centre also publishes a paperback collection, entitled “Mes pas à faire au Creux de l’enfer” by Frédéric Bouglé, who runs it, with some thirty books published since 2000. The art centre, with a programme of national and international calibre, plays an active role in the cultural life of its town, the Puy-de-Dôme department and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, and engages in extensive work to raise artistic awareness with more than 2,000 schoolchildren every year. With Les enfants du sabbat, a series of exhibitions initiated by its director in 2001, the Creux de l’enfer is raising the profile of talented young artists from the École supérieure d’art de Clermont Métropole and the école nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Lyon.

In 2021, the Creux de l’enfer will be expanding and rolling out its artistic and cultural project in a new building adjoining the current site. With the Usine du May being made available by the town of Thiers, the art centre will be able to increase its exhibition space and host new projects offering a range of shared artistic experiences in collaboration with local players.

Director : Sophie Auger-Grappin