National theatre costume centre Moulins

National Theatre Costume Centre in Moulins

The Quartier Villars, former cavalry barracks built at the end of the 18th century in the Madeleine district of Moulins, is home since June 2006 to the Centre National du Costume de Scène (National Theatre Costume Centre).The building, which is a classified historic monument, is located in the centre of a vast complex that covers around 4 hectares of land on the banks of the River Allier.

It houses a prestigious collection of 10,000 theatre costumes from three national institutions: The French National Library (Performing Arts Department), the Comédie Française and the Paris Opera. These costumes constitute an exceptional living heritage.

The architectural renovation carried out by the Historic Monuments has been enhanced by facilities designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. The complex offers conservation facilities in specific storerooms, areas for temporary exhibitions (1,000 m²) with glass display cases that resemble theatre stages, a documentation centre and a textile renovation workshop.

Two large exhibitions of theatre costumes alternate with two “in-depth” exhibitions each year and highlight the richness of the collections through thematic displays. Documents related to the costumes (drawings, photos of stage decors and artists, programs, librettos, etc.) complete the vision of the prestigious productions in which they were used.

“As flowers go by, on garden stages” exhibition - 6 th December 2008 to 19 th April 2009

The Centre national du costume de scène (national centre for stage costumes) presents its seventh temporary exhibition called “Au fil des fleurs, scènes de jardins”

Exhibition’s general introduction

The knight of the rose, lilac fairy, spectre of the rose, lady of camellias, waltz of the flowers, Flora, Iris and Pomona, Parsifal and flower girls… in Sleeping beauty’s forest, in the marriage of Figaro’s garden, near the fountain in the deepest of the forest of Melisanda; they all live on stages and in dreams, while gardeners and flower sellers are busy cultivating theatre stages.

On stage, these imaginary and magic characters, related to the vegetal kingdom, come alive thanks to costumes either very realistic or of the finest illusion, made from textiles with woven, printed, stencilled or silk-screen printed patterns, embroidered with thread or spangles, trimmed either with appliqué works or inlays. Each nervure drawn, each petal cut, each stalk embroidered, each silk-screened foliage is a precise and magic set, thanks to craftsmen know-how, handling with skill and art techniques, tools and materials.

Fruit of a sometimes very ancient usage, but also of a daily creation inspired by botanical books or artists’ imagination, this exhibition is an invitation to discover the different techniques of creation and realisation of vegetal decor on textile, by the means of about a hundred costumes.

Presented themes

According to a stage design inspired by the history of gardens, the exhibition will present costumes either shaped in flowers, fruits, vegetables, trees; or decorated, embroidered, painted or woven with floral patterns; organized according to the following themes: the gardens’ embroidery, the King’s kitchen garden, winter’s enchantment, the interior garden, the bower, the greenhouse, and the hortus conclusus .

Centre National du Costume de Scène
Quartier Villars
route de Montilly - 03000 Moulins
Tél. : + 33 (0) 4 70 20 76 20
www.cncs.fr

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