A cultural hub at the service of its region

Naturally, the Louvre-Lens is first and foremost a museum... but a museum that is open to its environment and that aims to develop a cultural activity that will benefit the whole region. The museum's program will be established in close cooperation with the existing dense network of regional museums and cultural institutions; pre-existing synergies will be reinforced.

"La Scène",
an auditorium in tune with the museum showrooms

"La Scène," a large auditorium of over 300 seats, will be an adaptable, multidisciplinary space designed to meet the various needs of a wide range of events related to the museum's exhibitions and activities: live performances, concerts, and other events such as symposia, lectures, readings, film screenings, etc.

The main originality of "La Scène" is its direct link with the temporary exhibition spaces. This will encourage new ways of presenting the works and bringing them to life and allow for live performances as part of the exhibitions.

"La Scène" will also function independently and double as a theater in the evenings; the mining basin will thus benefit from a state-of-the-art cultural facility with high-quality technical infrastructures.

The multimedia library: a veritable resource center

Rather than just another library, the Louvre-Lens multimedia library will be a comprehensive resource facility, comprising a free-access "traditional" resource center (with introductory works and research tools concerning the museum's collections, etc.), and multimedia screens providing access to all the available online documentation related to art history and archaeology (the Louvre and other museums, local and university libraries, research centers, Ministry of Education digital workspaces, etc.).

It will also feature a small auditorium and training rooms where art-related lectures and training sessions will be proposed to the teaching community, people working in the sociocultural field, museum professionals, etc.

The multimedia library will be supplemented by a multimedia space designed to further skills in the educational use of digital technologies in the field of art. A studio-style production space (intended mainly for teachers and people working in the cultural and educational sectors) will make it possible to create and produce materials (introductory trails, multimedia information packages, art workshop resources, etc) which could be integrated into the museum's education service.

Introductory workshops for all

The Louvre-Lens will feature half a dozen educational workshops designed to introduce visitors to the fundamentals of artistic creation and give them hands-on experience of artistic practice, techniques, and tools (the "other side of the picture" as it were). They will be encouraged to create a work of their own, using drawing, painting, sculpture, multimedia, etc.

These activities are intended primarily-but not exclusively-for school groups; the workshops will also be open to adults.