Cultural Service

A major international location for teaching and research, UCLy hasn’t stopped developing in terms of arts and culture at its Lyon campuses. In this spirit of boldness and openness and in response to a real need on the part of the university community, the ‘Mission Culture’ (Cultural Service) was born to plan and co-ordinate ambitious projects.

An entire team dedicated to culture

Since 2017, the Cultural Service has been organising exhibitions, concerts, shows and talks in collaboration with the arts institutions of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

By bringing art onto its campuses and inviting thinkers and creators to come together and share views and ideas, UCLy hopes to enrich the students’ academic experience by inviting them to experience new and unexpected worlds.

The events and initiatives organised by the Cultural Service not only help to change perceptions of the university through a variety of powerful artworks, but also enable students to develop essential skills to supplement those taught on their degree courses, such as creativity, open-mindedness and analysis.

As well as projects planned in partnership with the major institutions in Lyon (TNP national theatre, the Italian Cultural Institute, MAC contemporary art museum, Théâtre des Célestins theatre, Lyon Opera, Concert de l’Hostel Dieu musical ensemble, Quatuor Debussy string quartet, etc.), the Culture Team supports student initiatives such as the university theatre troupe, the Orchestre Meltin’cordes Campus Orchestra and the UCLy choir.

Showing the beauty and intelligence of art, developing critical thinking, creativity and social links… That is what UCLy is aiming for with its cultural work.

Manager of the culture service : Dr Dominique Vinay, Dean of the Faculty of Modern Languages and Literature.

Some of the Cultural Service's events

MUSIC’LY, the UCLy Music Festival

For the last three years, UCLy has been teaming up with the string quartet Quatuor Debussy to offer visitors a special musical weekend at the university for the European Heritage Days. A three-day-long event on the Saint-Paul campus, combining classical music concerts, local luthiers presenting string instruments, public masterclasses, opportunities to visit some of the campus's historical buildings or meet the musicians, and more.

Discover the 3rd edition of the festival

Lyon Contemporary Art Biennale

Every two years, UCLy’s Carnot and Saint-Paul campuses play host to the key artworks of an offshoot of the Contemporary Art Biennale: the BHN (Biennale Hors Normes).

For ten days, UCLy becomes the epicentre of the exhibition (around 60 artworks). Fifty or so partner venues and institutions also house some artworks, including Lyon 2 and Lyon 3 universities, the Piscine du Rhône swimming pool and Lyon’s libraries. BHN 9 is coming up in September 2021!

Hostel Dieu Concert : FugaCités concerts

The FugaCités were three artistic performances combining baroque music with urban culture. Dance, hip-hop and poetry slamming met the Concert de l’Hostel Dieu ensemble's musical repertoire for short, interdisciplinary shows that went to a new, youngaudience at their place of study, at the heart of the UCLy campus.

Italian Cultural Institute

In 2020 or 2021, the Cultural Service, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Lyon, gave visitors the chance to see the works of Leonardo da Vinci (a collection of 17 paintings and murals all reproduced digitally at their original size using HD Digital Painting technology) or Raphaël (1483-1520) to mark the 500th anniversary
of his death.Raphaël's exhibition was made up of 19 full-size high-definition digital reproductions of paintings of Madonnas and other religious images by this master painter, wonderfully enhanced by a backlighting system.

Contact us

Cultural Service

+33 (0)4 72 32 51 27
culture@univ-catholyon.fr