Bac à sable: nine new glassmakers of the Cerfav, Vannes-le-Châtel, to 10 January 2027

Lorraine is where French glass became an art of the first rank: the Nancy school built Art Nouveau out of it, and the workshops of the region still train the people who blow, cut and decorate it. One of them is the Cerfav, the European centre for research and training in the glass arts, at Vannes-le-Châtel, and every year it hands its gallery over to the cohort that has just finished.

From 28 September 2026 to 10 January 2027 the Galerie|Atelier du Cerfav shows Bac à sable — «sandbox» — the work of the thirty-third cohort of its Créateur verrier programme, after two years of training. The nine makers are Élise Blarel, Mélanie Cloix, Alexandre Corbillon, Anne-Cécile Durand, Héloïse Reux-Lemasson, Billy Roch, Roxane Schnell, Emma Tavian and Clara Verrier.

The title is their own metaphor: a sandbox as the place where invention carries no penalty, where matter is touched, seen and smelled before it is mastered. The pieces move across techniques that the region has practised for generations — torch-worked glass, decoration on glass, cane-blowing, stained glass — which is the quiet argument of a show like this one: inherited skill is only preserved by being handed to someone who will use it differently.

Practical details

• When: 28 September 2026 to 10 January 2027
• Where: Galerie|Atelier du Cerfav, rue de la Liberté, 54112 Vannes-le-Châtel, France
• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 2pm–6pm
• Admission: free, no booking required
• Organised by: Cerfav — Centre européen de recherches et de formation aux arts verriers
• Information: cerfav.fr

Cultural Heritage Online lists this exhibition for readers who follow the crafts that keep historic buildings and collections alive.