Feedback on the Printemps des Arts at the Schweitzer high school
The Printemps des Arts week took place from 19 to 22 April at Lycée Albert Schweitzer ! As part of this annual arts festival, the company ran two workshops on the project Oratio Mix. Euro German classes from Collège Corot and the Schweitzer high school met and exchanged ideas around an exhibition. A visit of two classes of kindergarten and primary school was also organised within the high school for a rich sharing around readings.
For the past 6 years, Transplanisphère has been in artistic residence at the Albert Schweitzer high school. In 2018, the high school and the company set up an inter-school festival “le Printemps des Arts”, which has become an annual event during which the students present their artistic productions created during the year.
This year, the company has initiated a new partnership involving Fougères nursery and elementary schools, the Collège Corot and the Albert Schweitzer high school in Le Raincy. This extended residency is associated with the European project Oratio Mix and aims to question intercultural dialogue through artistic creation. In this context, the company has conducted Oratio Mix workshops throughout the year in these 4 schools. For this new edition of the Printemps des Arts, the students of the 4 structures met and presented their creations produced during the Oratio Mix workshops. It was a week rich in exchange and creativity!
A encounter between secondary and high school students on art exhibitions
On Thursday 21 April, the 3rd year Euro German class of the Corot secondary school met the 2nd year Euro German class of the high school.
During this exchange, the pupils presented their work produced during the Oratio Mix workshops led this year by the company: adaptations of the mythological figure of the mermaid. For their creations, they started from several existing texts: Andersen’s tale, the passage from the Odyssey where Ulysses meets the mermaids, a tale by the Brothers Grimm about a mermaid and a poem by Heine. Based on these inspirations, the pupils transposed the figure of the mermaid into our contemporary world. They created sound fictions, a photo novel, a filmed performance and a short film. The mermaid became in turn a reality TV contestant, a swimmer committed to the environment and fighting against the plastic continent, a venal woman and a character in a Z series fiction.
The high school students, who are halfway through the Oratio Mix experience, presented their first work: they made famous self-portraits talk. Courbet’s desperate man is doing this because he is being robbed in his museum, Frida Kahlo talks with her parrots, Vincent Van Gogh hears voices, Weisgerber makes a video call during the Covid confinement… The restitution took the form of an exhibition offering QRcodes to access the audio and video contents.
The students first visited the exhibition independently and then shared what they had seen, heard and understood. This sharing of artistic creations was rich in exchange, reflection and creativity.
The students of the high school continued to celebrate the arts week with music! A concert by the students and the music teacher closed the day on 20 April. On piano notes, opera or French variety, the students expressed themselves in song and revealed their talents! We hope that this concert will become an essential part of the Printemps des Arts.
A poetic sharing between primary, nursery and high school students
On Friday 22 April, the festival continued with a second event organised by the company. Two kindergarten classes and three second grade classes from the Fougères school came to the high school for the first time. Volunteer students from the high school welcomed them in the park of the school and read them albums on Love, in small groups.
The kindergarten and primary school pupils then shared their feedback on what they had heard as stories, what they had liked best and whether they had recognised the common point between all the stories: Love in all its forms and powers. The older children were as delighted as the younger ones. The school management and Catherine Minotte’s team from the Raincy media library came to spend some time with the pupils.
This meeting was a real success and everyone wishes for a second edition for next year!
