Estuaire art collection – Nantes

Thirty outdoors works, some permanent and other temporary, along the Loire River. It’s a real open-air museum to be discovered, by boat or bike, for lovers of contemporary art. The initiative comes from a project of Jean Blaise, born in 1951 and Artistic Director of big cultural events.  A real “live” experience of the aesthetic activities of the authors, along the Loire path (60 km from Nantes to Saint-Nazaire).

Created on the spot by internationally renowned artists, the works of the gallery are accessible, for free and all year round by boat or car. For the boat option, the excursions depart from Nantes and Saint-Nazaire, and are operational only from April to October.

An expert guide comments the visit, which lasts about 2 hours and 45 minutes. It’s a chance, the one of the “Estuaire art collection” to experience a visual, tactile, sometimes dreamlike overview and that allows you to get to know a region, the oceanic Loire, in its most unknown aspect: unique views of the villages, marshes, fishing scenes, industrial landscapes, flora and fauna. 

If some creations were presented in occasion of a particular event, others are part of the actual collection and are placed in unusual places such as a cement plant for the “Pendulum” by Romain Signer, or special interest sites in the estuary, like the area of Lavau-sur-Loire, for the “Observatory” by Tadashi Kawamata, or available day and night for “The Rings” by Daniel Buren & Patrick Bouchain.  

The 31st work, “Death in summer” by Claude Lévêque is, instead, in the Abbey of Fontvraud that is about 2 hours and 30 minutes from Nantes by car. Going to discover these works is undoubtedly a unique experience for the visitor, in the heart of art and nature.  (M.F.)

[ph.: Ville – Nantes © Bernard Renaoux/LVAN]