MusVerre in Sars-Poteries Showcases Glass Art and Worker Craft

The MusVerre museum in Sars-Poteries, a village of fewer than 1,500 inhabitants in the Nord department of France, is dedicated to glass art. The museum's architecture, designed by W-Architectures, features simple volumes and large openings that maintain a dialogue with the surrounding fields. Its collection began in 1982 when the first International Symposium of Contemporary Glass took place, during which artists donated 123 works. Inaugurated in its current form in October 2016, the museum now holds 2,000 pieces, both ancient and recent. The contemporary collection includes works by Stanislav Libensky, Dale Chihuly, Udo Zembok, and Matei Negreanu, and traces the Studio Glass movement that emerged in the United States in the 1960s. The museum also houses over 800 'Bousillés', objects made by glassworkers in their free time between 1801 and 1937, which were given as gifts rather than sold, offering insight into working-class history. In 2026, the MusVerre celebrates its tenth anniversary under new director Laetitia Messager, with ambitions to expand partnerships and demonstrate that glass is a vibrant part of contemporary art. The exhibition 'Enchanté, la fabrique des histoires' is on view until January 3.