Du 1er juillet 2026 au 10 janvier 2027 à Clermont-Ferrand
-

This edition is co-produced with the Geneva Museum of Ethnography, which will host the biennial from April 16 to August 15, 2027, in Switzerland.

“The 2026-27 edition of the Clermont-Ferrand Textile Biennial aims to explore the beauty of the world, in all the places where we least expect to find it. It seeks to open itself to other sensibilities and other aesthetics. It intends to invite viewers to see, in the words of Arthur Rimbaud, what humankind has sometimes believed it saw. In a world that, more than ever, exacerbates nationalism and isolationism, it seemed to us that the only way to build the global whole that Édouard Glissant dreamed of is to conjugate the word ‘beauty’ in the plural, encompassing all languages and all sensibilities. And textiles seem the most appropriate dictionary for proposing a beauty freed from all concepts. Textiles are not conceived; they are woven with fibers and patterns from all over the world. They introduce us to this beauty of the world, of which Emperor Hadrian wished to be the guardian, as Marguerite Yourcenar told us.” » Simon Njami – President of HS_Projets

In 2026, the Textile Biennale – Clermont-Ferrand, presents:

An exhibition entitled Beauty(s) presented in a dozen cultural venues in the City of Clermont-Ferrandand an eponymous international exhibition at the Roger-Quilliot Art Museum in Clermont Auvergne Métropole. A broader presence in six departments (Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire, Loire, Allier, Rhône, and Isère) of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, as well as in Aubusson in the Creuse department. A program of events running for six months. In total, these are 120 artists, de 24 different nationalitieswho will present their work at the Textile Biennale, including 50 in Clermont-Ferrand.

'What is the Textile Biennial?

Formerly known as the International Festival of Extraordinary Textiles (FITE), the Textile Biennial reinvents itself with each edition by partnering with a new international organization before traveling to that partner's country. It is the only biennial in the world based on this principle. Every two years, artists from five continents explore a recurring theme together, drawing on the textile collections of the Roger-Quilliot Art Museum, Clermont Auvergne Métropole, and the collections of the new partner.
The objectives of the Biennale are to change the world, to create an experience aimed at altering our perception of humans, and to contribute to an ecological, economic and social dynamic through the action of artists.
The Biennale, since its creation, has been:
192 artists exhibited
54 nationalities represented
361,000 visitors

WHERE & WHEN ?

One theme is voted for 2 years !

After ‘Metamorphoses’, ‘Renaissance’, ‘Rebels’, “Deviations”, ‘Love etc.’ and ‘Imagine!’, the theme ‘PLAY’ has been explored for the 2024_25 edition. While the Biennale is held every even-numbered year in Clermont-Ferrand (France) and Auvergne Rhône Alpes, in odd-numbered years it takes place in another country. This was the case in 2013 in Hué (Vietnam), in 2015 in Manila (Philippines), in 2017 in Mexico City (Mexico), in 2019 in Romania (travelling exhibition) and in 2023 in Lithuania (travelling exhibition). In 2021, the Biennale was due to take place in Dakar (Senegal) but had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2025 edition took place in São Paulo (Brazil).

By Whom

The HS_Projets Association

Association under the 1901 Law. International actors of textiles : artists, designers, dancers etc. The association works to structure exchanges and cooperation between regional, national, european and international actors by organizing events such as the FITE.

The City of Clermont-Ferrand

Nineteenth urban center of France, Clermont-Ferrand encourages co-construction and new modes of cooperation for a common project. Social and cultural links are seen as crucial for the urban life. The city is very much involved in the development and influence of its territory as a human community, with the objective of a common invention of its future.

Musée d'art Roger-Quilliot (MARQ)

The Roger-Quilliot Art Museum (MARQ), located in the historic district of Montferrand, occupies buildings of a former 17th-century Ursuline convent, classified as a historic monument. The museum brings together nearly 2,000 French and European works from the Middle Ages to the 21st century, and now includes the non-European textile collection from the Bargoin Museum. This collection offers an overview of textiles representative of tribal and rural worlds outside Europe (Africa, Asia, America and Oceania, from the 18th to the 21st century), with some items that are unique in France, such as pieces from Yemen and Syria.

Clermont Auvergne
Métropole

Urban community, work for the reinforcement of the intercommunalitiy to make things better together, especially as part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes