AroundAubusson

These temporary exhibitions allow to discover the evolution of the tapestry, since “verdures” and mythological scenes of the 17th century until the most surprising contemporary creations.
La Cité internationale de la tapisserie has for mission to preserve, enrich and emphasize this big know-how. With a renewed scientific and cultural project, it builds a reference collection allowing to present five and a half centuries of production in Aubusson.
If it leans on the past, La Cité internationale de la tapisserie also looks towards the future. With the implementation of a regional collection for the creation of contemporary tapestries, it participates in the reflation of the creation in Aubusson, in particular through a call for projects which it organizes every year since 2010.

Managed by the tourist office, the Maison du Tapissier houses a small museum which features a reconstructed painter-cartoon creator’s workshop, tapestry merchant’s office and tapestry weaving workshop. The ambiance of the rooms, the colour of the wool, the cartoons, tapestries and tapestry weaving demonstration from a hand weaver, all contribute to your immersion in the world of this ancestral art.

Tapestry cartoons are the models which tapestry weavers use to work from during the process of making a tapestry. These are the oil paintings, water colours and canvases inspired by the classic themes of Boucher, Watteau, Fragonard, Oudry... <br/>The museum provides an opportunity to discover a collection of traditional cartoons, the reconstruction of a traditional workshop and a tour of a restored workshop.