“Access to culture for all”: final stretch before the opening of the Le Lait contemporary art center in Albi

This Thursday, January 16, the key to the building passed from the hands of Christophe Ramond, president of the departmental council, to those of Antoine Marchand. The director of the Le Lait art center (International Artistic Laboratory of Tarn) was visibly moved by this handover: a crucial step before the inauguration in March.

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Albi: the Le Lait art center takes over the walls of the former Camille-Claudel school

The Le Lait art center will finally find permanent quarters after 3 years outside the walls. After the Moulins Albigeois, it is 5 rue de l’école Normale which will now host its contemporary art exhibitions.

“A place of exchange, transmission, discovery”

The secretary general of the Tarn prefecture, Sébastien Simoes, present for this handover, insisted on the importance of the “cultural influence” of this future site, “including in rural areas”.

The new location of the center is highly symbolic. Indeed, the walls of Milk were previously those of a former school establishment: the former Camille Claudel school. “A place of exchange, transmission, discovery,” summarizes Antoine Marchand, “it is important for us to transmit art to everyone, and especially to the youngest.” Like a school, the center wants to encourage the exchange of knowledge, while allowing “the support of creation”.

An investment of 2.1 million euros

In this sense, the Milk building includes two rooms upstairs, dedicated to welcoming artists in residence. The place is decorated with an artistic practice room, important for school groups. And, of course, four pieces for exhibitions. There will be “installations, videos, sound”, we have already announced.

This colossal renovation has a cost: 2.1 million euros. The project was funded by the Department, but also by the Region, the State and the European Union. “It’s a choice, a strong political act, because access to culture for all is one of our priorities,” says Christophe Ramond.

For its inaugural exhibition, from March 15, Milk invites the Spanish artist Leonor Serrano Rivas. His exhibition, From the Other Worldis based on the workshops of medieval copyists and the transmission of knowledge through illuminated manuscripts. A symbolic choice, which corresponds to the message that the art center wants to convey.