Marseille, away from the spotlight

A private apartment overlooking the Vieux-Port, a collection and artists invited to create work specifically for the setting: Le Code a changé grew out of collector Didier Webre’s desire to find a more personal way of supporting Marseille’s art scene. Together with Bernard Muntaner, he invites an artist to take over the space for several months, before a final exhibition at Château de Servières brings all the projects together. From late August, Flore Saunois takes centre stage with her exhibition Sweet and Long.

Le Code a changé: Flore Saunois, Sweet and Long, from 27 August 2026.
Private venue, visits by appointment, Marseille.
lecodeachange.fr

When a shipping company opens its offices to contemporary art, the journey takes a different turn. In partnership with Villa Albertine and the Musée national de la Marine, Marseille-based shipping company Marfret invited eight artists and writers to sail aboard the container ship Marius in 2023 and 2024. Following its presentation in Paris, the exhibition Artists Set Sail now calls at Marseille. Photographs, drawings, videos, notebooks and podcasts recount voyages across the Atlantic and Pacific, offering a new perspective on the largely invisible world of maritime shipping.

Artists Set Sail, Marfret, Marseille.
marfret.com

You will need to make an appointment and head up to Endoume. American Gallery is tucked away inside Pamela King’s home and extends into her garden, amid terraces, sculptures and views of the Château d’If. Since 2010, this American art collector based in Marseille has created connections between local artists and those from the English-speaking world, while also hosting performances, readings and concerts. This summer, Charlie Hamish Jeffery takes over the space with Owl’s Memory Lounge, an installation conceived as a mysterious chamber of memory.

Charlie Hamish Jeffery, Owl’s Memory Lounge, until 13 September 2026.
54 rue des Flots Bleus, 13007 Marseille, by appointment.
p-a-c.fr

A gallery that never closes: on avenue de Mazargues, Digitale Zone displays artworks on an LED screen visible from the street and inside a small glass-fronted space. Created to make digital art accessible beyond traditional contemporary art venues, it now welcomes Julien Creuzet, the French-Caribbean artist who represented France at the 2024 Venice Biennale. Across the venue’s two windows, video and installation combine imagery, poetry and Caribbean influences.

Julien Creuzet, from 28 August to 29 November 2026.
11 avenue de Mazargues, 13008 Marseille. Visible 24 hours a day.
digitalezone.fr

Just a few minutes’ walk from Friche la Belle de Mai, solə is one of the latest additions to Marseille’s independent art scene. Its concept is simple: four solo exhibitions a year, three devoted to established artists and one to a recent art-school graduate. To mark the new season, Coraline de Chiara presents paintings conceived as ‘tools for seeing’, in which images and obstacles overlap to disrupt our habitual ways of looking. Don’t miss it: the exhibition runs for just four days.

Coraline de Chiara, from 27 to 30 August 2026.
8 rue Fortuné Jourdan, 13003 Marseille.
solo-sola.fr

Based in Belsunce, La compagnie has championed socially engaged art exploring questions of place, displacement and transmission for more than 30 years. Ses racines s’étendent jusqu’à 7000 km (Its Roots Reach Across 7,000 km) brings together six artists around the invisible ties connecting Palestine, Algeria, Morocco and France. During the final weekend of August, the exhibition continues with a screening of Nouria Behloul’s Chants fantômes (Ghost Songs) on 29 August.

Ses racines s’étendent jusqu’à 7000 km, from 16 May to 30 August 2026.
19 rue Francis-de-Pressensé, 13001 Marseille.
la-compagnie.org

Just a stone’s throw from La Vieille Charité, Vidéochroniques gives free rein to ten designers based in south-east France. Materials at hand, local resources, craftsmanship and care for the living world: Chiche ! Le Design au Sud, conceived by Cécile Coudreau and Fabrice Pincin with Marseille Design Méditerranée, approaches design as a way of responding to ecological and social change. A timely exhibition as Marseille increasingly asserts a design scene of its own.

Chiche ! Le Design au Sud, from 28 August to 25 October 2026.
1 rue de Lorette, 13002 Marseille.
videochroniques.org

At 40 rue Sainte, Zemma’s gallery and studio brings Franco-Canadian artist Roger Vilder back into the spotlight. Emerging in the wake of 1960s kinetic art, Vilder was fascinated by movement and the growth of forms. He soon progressed from electromechanics to algorithms, creating sculptures and digital works from the 1970s onwards. Motion in live offers an opportunity to rediscover this remarkably pioneering body of work, which echoes GRAV’s explorations of art in motion and the spectator as an active participant.

Roger Vilder, Motion in live, from 27 August to 19 October 2026.
40 rue Sainte, 13001 Marseille.
galeriezemma.fr

Just a stone’s throw from La Plaine, this small terrace takes you to Peru without leaving Marseille. Patricia Pinto serves generous Peruvian cuisine shaped by many influences, with ceviche, pulpo al olivo, ají de gallina, tacu tacu and other dishes designed for sharing. Start, or finish, with a pisco sour, of course.

59 rue des Trois-Frères-Barthélemy, 13006 Marseille.

Just a short walk from Belle de Mai, this is Marseille’s answer to the guinguette: a large terrace, bistro, bar and pétanque court. Come for lunch, a drink beneath the parasols, a bite at aperitif time and, inevitably, a game of pétanque. Far enough from the tourist trail, it still feels like a well-kept secret.

15 rue Pautrier, 13004 Marseille.

Head out to Saint-Just to discover this neighbourhood wine shop, opened in 2024. Its name is a playful nod to piquette, the French term for poor-quality plonk, and to the dubious reputation natural wines carried for many years. Alongside low-intervention wines from independent producers, you will find ciders, beers, preserves and a carefully chosen selection of alcohol-free drinks. Best of all, you don’t need to master the vocabulary of carbonic maceration before stepping inside.

12 chemin de Raguse, 13013 Marseille.