France’s Three Digital Art Centers 

Immersive, larger-than-life digital art exhibitions are all the rage and France has three locations in Provence, Paris and Bordeaux that will plunge you into dazzling light shows. 

It all began with a cavern inside a mountain.  

For centuries, the area around Les Baux-de-Provence was a hive of limestone quarries, but then competition forced them to close. One of the quarries left behind was an enormous, ghostly cavern that sat empty for decades. 

Then in 1975, filmmaker Albert Plécy had the idea of using it for a sound and light show. And not just any show, but one that displayed what he called “total images.” Plécy installed several giant projectors that flooded the cavern with color, projecting images that he coordinated with music, creating a kind of total immersion. From this modest beginning, the programs have slowly become more sophisticated and today use hundreds of cutting-edge projectors and complex computer control.  

Called Carrières des Lumières (Quarries of Lights) this show-in-a-mountain features a new artist every year. Recent ones include Vincent van Gogh and Salvador Dali, in a program that runs about 45 minutes (there is also a shorter program in rotation that changes every year.) On occasion, a city or country is featured rather than an artist, as with the latest program on ancient Egypt.  

As a program begins, the cavern goes dark and slowly you begin to hear beautiful music. Images appear on the walls and floor—huge, brilliant images. For the Van Gogh program, you see the famous Sunflowers painting here, then The Starry Night over there, followed by one self-portrait on a wall and another on a massive pillar. The images move, fade, explode, and reappear—it’s dazzling. You are completely surrounded by color and sound.  

Carrières des Lumières has become one of the most popular sites in Provence, attracting over half a million visitor a year. So popular, in fact, that the company that manages it, Culturespaces, has replicated the idea around the world, including sites in Paris and Bordeaux.

Provence: Carrières des Lumières 

Just a short walk from the hilltop village of Les Baux-de-Provence, Carrières des Lumières sits inside three mammoth, interconnected chambers. The walls are 30 feet high, and you can still see the markings from where massive blocks of limestone were removed. 

New programs typically debut here, then move to the other sites, so if you want to be the first to see a new artist, this is the place to go! Parking is limited so if you can’t find any you may wish to park near Les Baux and walk, as it is only a few minutes away. Booking tickets ahead of time is strongly advised during the busy tourist season. 

You can find more information here: Carrières des Lumières  

Paris: Atelier des Lumières 

Opened in 2018, the Atelier des Lumières (Workshop of Lights) is in a refurbished factory in the 11th arrondissement. It was an immediate hit, drawing over a million visitors a year. Tickets can be hard to come by so you should book well ahead to be sure to get in. 

The Atelier has high white walls, and pillars surrounded by curved surfaces designed to showcase the art being projected on them. It is smaller than the Carrières des Lumières, making it more crowded, but the smaller size means the images are noticeably sharper and clearer. 

Getting there  

Metro:  Voltaire, Saint-Ambroise (line 9); Rue Saint-Maur (line 3); Père Lachaise (line 2) 

You can find more information here: Atelier des Lumières  

Bordeaux: Bassins des Lumières 

During World War II, the Nazis forced the city of Bordeaux to build a submarine base, a hulking structure made of concrete so thick it could withstand Allied bombing. Submarines would float into long bays where they could dock safely. 

After the war, dismantling the base was prohibitively expensive, so it sat empty. Until, that is, 2020 when Culturespaces opened their newest French venue, the Bassins des Lumières (Pools of Lights.) 

Today, visitors can walk along and across these long pools of water while images are projected onto the walls. Some are reflected back on the water’s surface, a beautiful effect unique to this site. One pool has a grandstand at one end, with seating for several hundred. Like the other sites, booking your tickets ahead of time is advised 

The Bassins des Lumières is in the northern part of Bordeaux, about a mile from the interactive wine museum Cité du Vin—visiting both on the same day would stimulate many senses! 

You can find more info here: Bassins des Lumières