The Château invites artist Nicolas Daubanes for an exhibition conceived as the first chapter of a research project focusing on prison graffiti preserved in its basements. The title, Mille six cent soixante-dix-sept (Sixteen Seventy Seven), refers to the date of the oldest graffiti currently found in the castle, the starting point for a sensorial and historical investigation.

Guided by his constant interest in spaces of constraint, areas of resistance, and forms of clandestine writing, Nicolas Daubanes develops an approach that weaves together contemporary creation, prison history, and exploration of the built environment. The exhibition will present several pieces previously produced by the artist— notably in the context of research and residencies (Villa Médicis, etc.) — juxtaposed with the castle’s prison graffiti, in order to bring stories, gestures, and traces to life across time. By combining contemporary creations with archives engraved in stone, he offers a fresh interpretation of this unique heritage. Conducted in partnership with historian Fanny Lalande, this project launches an original program combining art, humanities, and heritage, transforming the Château into a place of study, creation, and storytelling.

Curators: Jean-Denis Frater and Fanny Lalande

With Pilar Albarracín, Alice Allenet, Ziad Antar, Michel Blazy, Mégane Brauer, Brassaï, Marcel Broodthaers, Lucas Chanoine, Elia David, Aurélie Ferruel et Florentine Guédon, Valerie Geissbühler Pacheco, Alain Guiraudie, HaYoung, Jacqueline de Jong, Hanna Nagel, Raphaël-Bachir Osman, Serge Paillard, Giuseppe Penone, Sigmar Polke, Bruno Serralongue, Shimabuku, SMITH, Rozy Tergemina Sapelkine and Agnès Varda.

Des Patates (On Potatoes) is a contemporary art exhibition that brings together the work of artists of different generations and nationalities around their love of potatoes.

Behind this tuber from the Andes, the first specimens of which are said to have been cultivated in France in the Ardèche region, lies a multitude of stories: tales of survival, migration, financial hardship and damaged land. But the potato also represents the joy of shared meals and forms of resistance that run underground before sprouting into works of art.
Spread over two floors of the Château, the exhibition is accompanied by a event program combining performances and tastings, linked to the local area and beyond.

Curators: Simon Bruneel-Millon and Clémentine Planche