Les Grandes Locos

Located by the river Rhône, just downstream from its confluence with the Saône, on a site covering several dozen hectares, Grandes Locos is the name of a complex of industrial buildings that were inaugurated in 1846 by the Compagnie des Hauts Fourneaux, Forges et Ateliers d’Oullins, before becoming an SNCF train maintenance centre in the 20th century. These factories, which bear witness to French railway history, were used until 2019 for maintaining electric locomotives and spare parts. Now repurposed as a cultural venue, they are hosting the 17th Lyon Biennale, where the site’s history will resonate in the artists’ works, which speak of travel and movement, repair and care, collective strength, and protest.