From 18 September 2025 to 10 January 2026, the Cavalcades et épluchures exhibition at the ReX in Armentières invites visitors to discover how artists associated with Art Brut reinvent their everyday lives, transforming the ordinary into extraordinary escapes.

The exhibition will feature two artists who created their work at the Armentières hospital: Henri Chauwin and Jules Leclercq. In his astonishing drawings and writings, created between the 1930s and 1960s and recently discovered, Henri Chauwin recounts his life and describes a parade that took place during the Armentières carnival: the cavalcade. Jules Leclercq's embroideries, made from recycled threads, refer to the history of the town and its spinning mills.

Works of art brut, such as the drawings of Georgine Hu, Gaston Dufour and Johnson Weree, and the puppets of Ni Tanjung will round off the exhibition, revealing the poetics of the everyday life of these artists, whose roots lie in childhood. The exhibition will offer a veritable feast for the senses, of transfiguration and deformation, featuring works by artistic personalities such as Jean Dubuffet, Gaston Chaissac and Philippe Dereux, known for his works based on plants and peelings.

Around the exhibition 

Conference: The right to brut
L'Albatros multimedia library, Armentières
This multidisciplinary colloquium will explore the ethical and legal issues surrounding the reception of art brut in museums. Since the arrival of the first works at LaM in 1997, research has made it possible to trace the identity of the creators, recognising their status as artists. The symposium will explore in greater depth the issues of transmission, ownership and the rights of authors and beneficiaries.

Festival: New raw practices and music from the margins
Maison Folie Moulins, Lille
LaM is teaming up with La Belle Brute and Lille's multi-disciplinary cultural venues to offer a week of encounters around new raw practices: concerts, workshops, conferences, round tables, an exhibition, a radio studio and a Masterclass. These events will provide an opportunity to activate and share the little-known creative potential that emanates from atypical personalities and groups, particularly in the field of disability.

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