Périgord-Limousin, land of artistic crafts

In the land of know-how

Ah, the Périgord-Limousin! Its puys covered with chestnut coppices, its wild valleys with clear waters, its small villages nestled in the middle of the bocage… and its artisans of art!

Come now, don't be surprised by such an overrepresentation of women and men engaged in creative pursuits in a country that was primarily thought to be a breeder of calves and mothers! "But yet," the aesthete with exclusively vulgar (urban) morals might say to me, "we are far removed here, in the heart of these verdant countryside, from the artistic vibrations that animate the heart of our metropolises from Soho to Saint-Germain-des-Prés!" – " But don't be, don't be, my friend ," I would reply, " look closely , look around us, discover what has built the history of Périgord-Limousin, and then you will understand…"

As you explore our small towns, you'll see that they have often preserved their factories specializing in local products: Nontron's famous knife , Saint-Yrieix and its porcelain, Saint-Junien and its gloves… Following the course of our rivers, you'll notice that, for centuries, strings of forges, tanneries, spinning mills, and fulling mills have dotted their banks… As you travel through our countryside, you'll see the countless traces left by the generations of woodworkers, ironworkers, and stonemasons who have worked here…

Then you will understand that, far from being a simple small country far from the pulsations of the modern world where artisans and creators exhausted by the urban tumult have come to find refuge, there is a long tradition of know-how perpetuated in Périgord-Limousin. That of a true manufacturing countryside, long populated by worker-peasants, which always knows how to make the most of its local resources.