LES LAPIDIALES

Not even Marie, my sister-in-law, nor Christian, my brother, had ever been there before. It’s not a run of the mill place at all. But if you are, even mildly, interested in seeing “living” sculpture, make sure you go there when you are next in the Poitou-Charentes area! You will not regret it.

An ancient quarry

It’s quite small for a quarry, really. You will need to keep on the look out, so you don’t miss the entrance.

There is also another site nearby, devoted to the history of quarrying which is very interesting and informative about stone quarrying, but not in a boring way. It’s also children friendly and some sculptors are currently working there too.

Les Lapidiales used to be a quarry but has now become a kind of open-air museum for contemporary sculptors from around the world. It’s a very relaxed place, with no entry fee, and you can watch artists chipping away and talk to them.

The scupltures

I loved the mixture of styles and felt (I know nothing much about sculpture) there were lots of influences at play there (medieval, South American, Easter Island, surrealist, etc.) but I’d love to hear / read what you think when you have watched the video.

The video

https://youtu.be/yX4K6uHlAoA