Ateliers de Tapisserie (Weaving Workshops)

In Aubusson, the best way to understand tapestry is to watch it being made, and several workshops in the town open their doors to visitors. The craft of Aubusson tapestry, practised here and in neighbouring Felletin for about six centuries, was recognised by UNESCO in 2009 as part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, and the people who keep it alive are the weavers, dyers and designers who still work in the town. A visit to a workshop gives a view of the steps that lead from a painted design to a finished wall hanging, and it turns a museum visit into a living experience.

The process begins with wool. A tapestry weaver uses hundreds of shades, and the dyeing is a skilled craft in its own right. Traditionally the dyers worked on the banks of the Creuse, whose soft water was good for fixing colours, and plant dyes such as madder for reds, weld for yellows and woad for blues were used, though modern dyes are common today. Some visits show the wool in skeins, sorted by tone in a rainbow of colours, and explain how the yarn is prepared. The raw wool is spun at the Terrade mill in Felletin, one of the last working spinning mills in the region, and it is part of the story that some tours include.

The weaving is done on a low-warp loom, called a basse lisse. The loom is horizontal, and the vertical threads of the warp are stretched across it, typically cotton, with the weaver working from the back of the piece, moving pedals to raise the threads and passing small bobbins of coloured wool through them. The design, drawn by an artist and enlarged to full size as a cartoon, a carton, is placed beneath the warp or marked on it, and the weaver follows it, but sees the result only as a mirror image until the work is finished. This is slow work, and a large tapestry can take months or years. Several people collaborate, among them the painter who produces the cartoon, the dyers and the weavers, and a finished tapestry is the product of that collective effort.

Visitors can try to understand the process in the Maison du Tapissier, a house in the town centre that offers tours suitable for children over about six and ends with a weaving demonstration. The Musée des cartons de tapisserie, a museum of the cartoons used by the weavers, is another place to understand the link between painting and weaving. Entry to workshops is modest in price, with a lower rate for children, and a reservation in advance is generally required, as groups are small and the weavers are working. Check the current arrangements with the tourist office.

The workshops are close to the Cité internationale de la tapisserie and the old town, which have the Musée National de la Tapisserie and the Maison de la Tapisserie, and the Marché d'Aubusson. A visit suits textile lovers, families and anyone who enjoys seeing a craft being practised.