©Charles Delcourt Calais and its museums: a journey between art, memory and fashion
Beaux-arts museum
Between the town hall and the beach, the Calais Museum of Fine Arts is reinventing its relationship with the public. Awarded the "Remarkable Contemporary Architecture" label, it offers a bright and airy setting for discovering more than 250 works, from the 16th century to the present day. The Fine Arts Gallery, inaugurated in 2023, offers a chronological and immersive journey featuring artists such as Turner, Dubuffet, Annette Messager, and Ben.
Since 2025, a new space has been entirely dedicated to Auguste Rodin and the Burghers of Calais, with models, archives and original sculptures.
©Charles Delcourt Memory Museum 39-45
Located in the longest German bunker in Europe, in the heart of Richelieu Park, the 39-45 Memorial Museum offers a 23-room tour retracing the Second World War in Calais.Objects, uniforms, photographs and testimonies tell the story of life under the Occupation, the local resistance and the liberation of September 1944.
©Nohcab 
Dragon, Varan and Chimera
Imagination in large format
At Fort Risban, the behind-the-scenes workings of La Compagnie la Machine are revealed in a free exhibition. Sketches, models, and costumes tell the story of the birth of the Dragon of Calais and the Varan de Voyage, a new creature that will join the city in November 2025. From the Major's Lodge to the Powder Magazine, the exhibition invites visitors to discover thirty years of creation and urban theatre, directly linked to maritime history and the seafront landscapes.
City of Lace and Fashion
Housed in a former 19th-century factory, the Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode (City of Lace and Fashion) showcases a world-renowned craft: Calais-Caudry lace. Weaving demonstrations, permanent exhibitions, workshops, and contemporary creations combine to create an experience that is both sensory and steeped in heritage. Furthermore, until January 4, 2026, the Cité is hosting the first monograph by designer Yiqing Yin, "D'air et de songes" (Of Air and Dreams): a poetic exploration of haute couture, blending imagination and physicality.
©TVOI OF AIR AND DREAMS
First monograph of the designer Yiqing Yin
Yiqing Yin, the first designer of Chinese origin to receive the designation of haute couture, is a multidisciplinary artist. At the intersection of the arts, her sculptural and evanescent works weave a dialogue between the fragility of humanity and the transformative force of nature. Curated by Sylvie Marot, this monograph highlights the hybridization of her artistic disciplines, between dreams and exploration of the senses.
To be discovered until January 4, 2026