The exhibitions in Lille and the surrounding area

Even today, the landscape of the Weppes is marked by the presence of many traces of the Great War. Concrete shelters bear witness to the war of position in the area. Come and discover the story of how they were built, how they functioned and how they evolved during the conflict.

From 26 April 2025 to 30 June 2026, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille is inviting Felice Varini, internationally renowned for his installations with striking geometric forms. Created specially by the artist at the heart of the museum, 3 monumental works will transform the perception of several spaces, including the emblematic atrium.

“My works invite the viewer to enter into the painting”.

Felice Varini has been delighting audiences since the late 1970s with his monumental installations that engage in dialogue with the surrounding architecture. Each of his works comes to life from a specific vantage point, where the geometric shapes seem to magically come together in a perfect composition. But the experience doesn’t stop there: as you move around, you’ll discover a multitude of perspectives and interpretations, like so many facets of a transformed space.

Until 14 June 2026

Co-organised with the Centre Pompidou – Paris, this exhibition explores a little-known aspect of the artist’s work: the role of images.

Photographs, scientific or press illustrations… far from being mere sources of inspiration, they fed the artist’s visual thinking and accompanied his quest for abstraction.

Through a unique collection of works and archives from Nina Kandinsky’s bequest to the Centre Pompidou and exceptional loans from European public and private institutions, the exhibition invites visitors to rediscover the importance of images in the work of one of the founders of abstraction.

from 7 March to 12 July

This retrospective exhibition at theIMA– Tourcoing pays tribute to a major figure in modern Egyptian art: the artist Hamed Abdalla (1917-1985), whose prolific output over fifty-two years of creative work helped redefine the trajectories of art in the Arab, African and Mediterranean worlds in a post-colonial context.

Bringing together an exceptional collection of works and archives preserved by the artist’s family, the exhibition retraces the different stages of his life and work.

Paintings, drawings, lithographs and personal documents are brought together to reconstruct the portrait of this singular artist, and to trace the echoes of an entire era through his career.

The MUba Eugène Leroy invites visitors to an intimate encounter with one of the richest art collections in the Lille metropolitan area: paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures from the 17th century to the present day, bringing together masters such as Rembrandt and Corot alongside contemporary artists like Georg Baselitz and Sol LeWitt. The exhibition unfolds across three complementary spaces — a chronological hang, a thematic dialogue around movement and stillness, and a selection of graphic arts — with a room entirely dedicated to Tourcoing-born artist Eugène Leroy.

from 11 October 2025 to 30 August 2026

“Vaisseau Terre” takes a positive and poetic look at the Earth. Designed by the Cité de l’Espace, the exhibition takes a fresh look at our blue planet. It invites visitors to be astronauts, explorers, space archaeologists and visionaries all in one.

From 29 April to 11 October 2026

The exhibition “Treasures of Wool and Silk. The Tapestries of Guillaume Werniers & Catherine Ghuys in Lille in the 18th Century” will offer the first-ever public presentation of an exceptional collection of tapestries from the Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse and the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille.

From May 15 to September 27, 2026

At Gare Saint Sauveur, Mediterranean cultures take over the venue, transforming it into a vibrant space filled with art, music, flavours and encounters.
You wander, discover, pause for a moment… and suddenly, you find yourself travelling without even realising it.

On the programme:
concerts, performances, workshops, culinary experiences… and a major immersive exhibition exploring the connections between the shores of the Mediterranean, through identities, memories and territories.