The contemporary art centre

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  • Maubuisson Abbey: combining heritage and contemporary art

    Located in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, in the Val-d’Oise region, Maubuisson Abbey is a place where the past and present resonate with each other. Founded in 1234 by Blanche of Castile under the name Notre-Dame-la-Royale, this former Cistercian abbey for women was a spiritual and political centre during the Middle Ages. Listed as a historic monument in 1947, it was given a new lease of life in 2001 and became a contemporary art centre under the auspices of the Val-d’Oise Departmental Council. This change in vocation in no way denounces its past, but rather enhances it.

Today, the Abbaye de Maubuisson offers a demanding and accessible artistic programme, where temporary exhibitions dialogue with the Cistercian architecture of the site. Guest artists are encouraged to create works in situ, in resonance with the history, spirituality and materiality of the site. This intertwining of art and heritage gives rise to sensitive, often immersive experiences that question our relationship with time, memory and space. 

  • In situ creation is:

    Daring to make and express art in all its forms, in a heritage setting. Offering a conducive space and supporting multidisciplinary contemporary creation through research and creation residencies in a dedicated, inspiring venue that is open to experimentation. Here, guest artists immerse themselves and find inspiration for monographic or collective exhibitions that take place each year. These exhibitions give rise to the production of original works and reflect the richness and diversity of the art scene.

The Abbaye de Maubuisson thus embodies an eclectic and open vision of contemporary art, an art that is rooted in reality, in conversation with history and accessible to all audiences. It is a rare place, where people come as much to marvel as to reflect, question and open themselves up to other currents of thought.

In addition to the two major spring/summer and autumn/winter exhibitions, the Abbaye de Maubuisson is also a cultural venue, hosting conferences, dance performances, creative workshops, guided tours, sound walks and yoga sessions in front of the artworks, which punctuate the programme around two major exhibitions per year.

Exhibitions designed/hosted at the Abbaye de Maubuisson:

  • Build the space you live in yourself

    Solo exhibition by Marie-Ange Guilleminot From 6 April to 31 August 2025

  • Beyond the invisible

    Duo exhibition by Cécile Beau and Grégoire Scalabre From 6 October to 23 February 2025

  • Sentience, listening to the scent of colour

    Group exhibition with Marie Amar, Berdaguer et Péjus, Daniela Busarello, Morgan Courtois, Julie C. Fortier, Michèle Nadal, Marie-France Parronchi and Daniel Pescio. From 29 March to 1 September 2024

  • Between the walls

    Duo exhibition by Karin Van Dam and Tanja Smeets From 8 October 2023 to 25 February 2024

  • “Khépri, sortir au jour” 

    Solo exhibition by Félicie d’Estienne d’Orves From 2 April to 3 September 2023

  • “De Profundis Ascendam” 

    Group exhibition with Guillaume Constantin, Julie C. Fortier, Ann Guillaume, Cristina Hoffman, Fabrice-Elie Hubert, Claire Malrieux, Henriette Menes, Julie Morel, Régis Perray, Man Ray, Lei Saito, Jae Rhim Lee, Camille Vidal-Naquet, Paola Vobauré From 16 October 2022 to 5 March 2023

  • Every Fiber of My Being

    Solo exhibition by Laura Ellen Bacon From 2 May to 28 August 2022

  • “Les Eloignées” 

    Solo exhibition by Rachel Labastie From 3 October 2021 to 27 February 2022

  • “Inquiétances des temps” 

    A journey through the film collection of the Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP) From 25 April to 29 August 2021

  • “Geoscopia” 

    Solo exhibition by Charlotte Charbonnel From 13 September 2020 to 21 February 2021

  • “Pro Liturgia, ordinatrices du temps présent” 

    Group exhibition with Cécile Babiole and Jean-Marie Boyer, Cécile Beau, Marie-Julie Bourgeois, Félicie d’Estienne d’Orves, Laura Haie and the Iakeri collective (Alice Guerlot – Kourouklis, Jimena Royo-Letelier, Aneymone Wihelm) From 17 November 2019 to 29 March 2020

  • “Electric Ladyland” 

    Solo exhibition by Julien Colombier From 19 May to 5 October 2019

Permanent works

  • Melik Ohanian COSMOBALL ®, 2008  : Football pitch for three teams

    Diameter 50 m, grass, white-painted steel sports equipment COSMOBALL® is a football game created by Melik Ohanian in 2008. Both a sculpture and a playground, COSMOBALL® is designated as an area for playing a unique game of football, the rules of which are established by the artist. COSMOBALL® is played by three teams of four players on a circular pitch 50 m in diameter, divided into three zones, each bordered by a circular cage. The first permanent stadium for this game was set up in the Abbaye de Maubuisson park for the artist’s solo exhibition in September 2008.

  • Hicham Berrada  : Le Jardin inaltérable (The Unchanging Garden), 2017

    Olive tree covered in gold leaves The tree is a beautiful evocation of the old cloister. Hicham Berrada reveals the poetry of the elements and thus offers wonder, like this olive tree taken from his installation Le Jardin inaltérable (The Unalterable Garden) presented in the parlour of the Abbaye de Maubuisson in 2017. The relationship with time is at the heart of this artist’s work. This olive tree covered in gold leaf is a literal interpretation of the paradise described in various sacred books. Made from materials selected for their unalterable nature, this evocation of an eternal garden as described in the Koran stimulates the imagination – between anxiety and serenity.

  • Jean-Christophe Nourisson  : D’une place à l’autre 3 (From one place to another 3), 2004 

    Coloured concrete benches Modernist in inspiration, the pieces are at the crossroads of architecture, art and design. Five benches/sculptures in ‘Maubuisson red’ coloured concrete were designed and created by Jean-Christophe Nourisson for the park. These five elements have a dual function. Taken as a whole, they trace a path that marks out the site and diffracts the viewpoints. Taken individually, they are functional works that serve as benches, solariums and deckchairs.

  • Marlène Huissoud  : Billie, 2021 

    Chestnut tree trunk beehive installation Artist Marlène Huissoud explores the creative possibilities offered by insects and their waste. Her practice rejects industry and aims to develop environmentally friendly craft techniques. For the Abbaye de Maubuisson, the artist has created Billie, a 3-metre-high educational tree trunk beehive. The nurturing figure of the tree is a refuge for insects in decline, evoking the welcoming role of the abbey in its heyday. This project is part of the Fondation de France’s New Patrons initiative, with the support of Societies.

  • Carlos Castillo  : Territoire 01, 2007 – Flagpole, flag

    The work marks the abbey grounds as a territory of art rather than a political space or territory. The flag is white, bearing only the geographical coordinates of the site in blue letters and symbols. It is a symbol of peace regained. The colours of art float above this Departmental Council site dedicated to contemporary art. What if art could bring people together?

  • Régis Perray  : Les Vases fleuris (Flower Vases), 2022  – Vases 

    The flower vases selected by Régis Perray are tributes to women, to the Cistercian nuns and, by extension, to all lost loved ones, and to the women working today at Maubuisson Abbey. The porcelain brings life back to the ruins and offers a poetic vision of the abbey’s exterior façade.