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How a Small Swiss Town Became a Street Art Hot Spot

Take a walk through Le Locle and discover exciting new art

If I had to choose a favorite street artist, it would be Ardif and his hybrid creatures. All photos by the author.

Quick — which cities do you think of when urban arts are mentioned? For me, the first ones to come to mind are Paris, London, New York, Berlin, Athens, and Barcelona. These places are known to show highly innovative and engaging graffiti and murals from both new and internationally known artists.

Now, I can add Le Locle, a small town in the Swiss Jura region close to the French border, to my list. Granted, Le Locle is not just any small town but the home of renowned luxury watch-brands such as Tissot and Montblanc. The contrast between the elitist heritage of the town and the provocative street art makes it all the more interesting.

The open-air street art museum is accessible to anyone. It is the brainchild of Sylvie and François Balmer who developed the “Open Sky Museum — ExoMuseum” concept. In the past two years, the two founders of the “Luxor Factory” have worked with internally renowned artists such as MonkeyBird, Nasty, James Colomina, Lunar, NesPoon, Ardif, and M.Chat, to name a few, on exciting new art on the previously empty walls of buildings and structures in town.