The Summer Journey in Nantes: 4 July to 6 Sept. 2026

15th edition : EARTH, a cycle devoted to the elements

This year, Le Voyage à Nantes begins a new cycle of events devoted to the elements. If urban space can be said to be a deeply reconstructed form of nature — one moulded to our scale and offering a backdrop to our modern cacophony — in Nantes, it is founded on the sensorial, fluid character of the elements: earth, water, air, and fire surround our fair city and shape us in ways both intangible and imperious.

Inviting artists to explore these universal and timeless notions over four consecutive years is also a way to remind us that art, nature, and the city belong to everyone: they are shared, they connect us, and they create different scales of experience.

To do this, we will follow the traditional path, moving from the most material to the most intangible. Earth will therefore be the first theme offered up to the artists participating in the 2026 edition. It is at once deep matter, that is silent and cosmic, while also being a dense, primordial metaphorical force. It contains the memory of the city and symbolizes the rebirth of life — the very condition for the emergence of all space and corporeality. Yet, on a macroscopic scale, the Earth itself is also a fragile vessel drifting through an immeasurable universe.

A thematic exhibition and several installations — set in both familiar and unexpected spots throughout the city — will be entrusted to roughly a dozen contemporary artists from both French and international art scenes. Entrusting this theme to nine artists endows it with a certain lightness. Rather than attempting to exhaust the subject, we open it up to their absolute freedom of interpretation — as diverse and rich in meaning as the countless forms and facets that visual art can take in public spaces.

Sophie Lévy, General Director of Le Voyage à Nantes