Cité internationale de la tapisserie
Six centuries of weaving, and sixteen pieces after Tolkien
Opened in 2016 in Aubusson, in the former school of decorative arts. Close to twenty-five thousand pieces. Aubusson tapestry has been listed as UNESCO intangible heritage since 2009.
It's the know-how that's UNESCO-listed, not the museum: the way of weaving, passed down here since the 15th century. The Cité opened in July 2016 in the former École Nationale d'Art Décoratif, refurbished after a competition won in 2012.
Twelve hundred square metres of exhibition space, including a six-hundred-square-metre nave of hangings that unrolls six centuries of production. The collections hold close to twenty-five thousand objects: tapestries, rugs, cartoons, drawings, samples, woven furniture, looms.
The Cité doesn't just preserve. The Aubusson tisse Tolkien project, launched in 2013 and formalised with the Tolkien Estate in 2016, has produced sixteen pieces based on the writer's original drawings - a hundred and sixty square metres woven between 2017 and 2024, by around forty professionals in seven workshops across the region.
Be aware: they're shown on rotation and loaned to other institutions. Check what's on display before making the trip.
Nine euros fifty, closed on Tuesdays and throughout January. A guided tour lasts an hour and a half to two hours.