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Presentation of the non-profit

Founded in 2002, Esox Lucius is a non-profit that develops visual art productions, and programs contemporary arts in a rural context. Since April 2018, the association has moved to the former railway station of Saint-Maurice-lès-Châteauneuf, Saône-et-Loire. Esox Lucius presents exhibitions, events, concerts/performances and conferences at its venue, known as Le Quai (2094M9). It organises initiatives artist residencies and talks, workshops artist residencies. It offers contemporary art mediation for to suit different types of publics. In this rural area, where nature plays a key role in everyday life, this venue work as a bridge between communities, the public and artists. It aims to be a space for dialogue between the local and the global, exploring the ecological, social and poetic issues of our time.

Esox Lucius is supported in its numerous projects by the French Ministry of Culture (DRAC Bourgogne-Franche-Comté), the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regional Council, the Saône-et-Loire Departmental Council and the surrounding towns council (Brionnais Sud Bourgogne). It is a member of the Seize Mille regional contemporary art network which allows it to collaborate with artists and communicate its projects to a wide audience.
For more than twenty years, the association has been an important local cultural player, building a loyal audience defined by its social and geographical diversity. In 2026, fully aware that its audience is changing, the board committed to changing its team and its programming to renew its activities.

Presentation of the venue / the place

Since 2018, the site for the programming, Le Quai (294M9), is located in the former railway station of a village with an exceptional setting. The interior design of the spaces was entrusted to designer Philippe Million. His approach was to be mindful of the origins of the place and preserve marks of its history, blending in with humility. The space offered to artists and creators is not just a place for hanging pictures: we hope they will consider the building and its garden, its history, its hyper-rural context and its specificities in their proposals. We see this space as one to be shared and open to the public, in line with its rural, experimental context and we wish to be attentive to all its users.
Since the opening of Le Quai (294M9), the gardens have been a place where artists have been able to exhibit. Inaugurated in 2018 with Vincent Ganivet's piece Double Hélicoïdale, the garden is about to be transformed into a bird refuge area (Ligue Protectrice des Oiseaux). We now wish to welcome works that promote the life of non-humans for the pleasure of human senses.

A place for artists in residence

In addition to programming exhibitions, Le Quai (294M9) offers and hosts artists in residence. These residencies vary in length and format: in situ production, prior to a solo exhibition, allowing the production of a piece, an artist's edition, or as part of the Pôle Position programme for young artists organised by the Seize Mille contemporary art network. The team is attentive to the artists; their proposals are studied in accordance to their desires and needs.

A place for educational projects and mediation

We develop and organise educational encounters tailored to each school group, from primary to high school, whether at Le Quai (294M9) itself, with visits to exhibitions and the mediation of specific projects, or at partner institutions (visual arts programme in secondary schools with the Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). We also offer events open to the general public (mediation, creative workshops, yoga sessions, etc.) to discover art in a sensitive and creative way.
The Burgundy-Franche-Comté region is the largest rural region in France. Our mission cannot ignore the territory and the place we occupy and care for. The unique feature of Le Quai (2094M9) is its location in 600 inhabitant’s village in the Brionnais-Charolais region, surrounded by a beautiful garden. The space offered to artists thus comes with this specific characteristic. We want them to be able to take these spaces and their contexts into account in their work. The element of travel, particularly rail travel, has always been a playground for the invited artists and a way to connect with our audience. The obviousness of rurality and the possibilities of the garden are also open to question: far from the fantasy of an isolated environment, we experience rurality as a dynamic and fluid framework, shaped by human movement and diverse professional activities, but always mindful of the seasons. Le Quai (2094M9) is situated within this evolving environment where the boundaries between city and countryside, work and leisure, nature and technology are intertwined, fragile, and complex.
In 2026 the programing will embrace these questions and transformations. This cycle of exhibitions and encounters is to shape our space into a sharing and collective one. It is together—artists, audiences, and staff—that we can envision desirable futures.