Change By Art

On the Trail of the Past

Our last day with the partners…..

picture by google pictures

They couldn’t have left the city without visiting the  local emblem of our cultural heritage.

Thanks to our guide, member of the « Société des Amis de la Cathédrale », we had a fairly complete view of the historical stages punctuating the story of the sacred place of kings coronation.

The cathedral we can see now is  the result of several stages.

There used to be colours where the stone now appears and the stained glasses representing episodes of the Bible were to tell things which couldn’t be written as only clergymen, scholars and kings spoke Latin.

Among other things, one detail caught the attention of the audience :  up to the 16th century, ordinary people were kept away from the ceremonial. Only kings and clergymen were allowed to take part in it . A big wall was built to separate both worlds.

Symbolically the Common couldn’t meet the Divine directly.

Until these walls were destroyed for people to actually see the ceremonial from  far away.

A good example of Change By Art!

Many thanks to our guide who let us step into the past!

http://catreims.free.fr/accueil.html

We visited the  cellars of the traditional yet ever on the move House of Champagne. Our guide, Silas, wonderfully explained the works of art left by Bertrand Lavier in the heart of the Pommery Estate.From  stone engravings to  modern representations of the world through art and music, we walked along galleries, surrounded by bottles to be exported all around the world.

Some destination labels,  like Kyoto,   caught my attention.Distant bells from the agreement on ecological issues, maybe…..

Many thanks to Silas and the  Pommery Estate:)

More information on the following websites  :

http://www.reims-tourisme.com/tabid/12559/OffreID/1ae04da4-12b4-4926-9283-0a86b4fd8ac9/Default.aspx

http://www.pommery.com/page2.asp?rec=86&som=86

Our day started  at 8.

We had tried and organized a time share between the Collège and the Lycée.

Thus, the delegation was welcome from 8 AM  to 10.AM at the Collège to discover the building and attend  lessons of French, Spanish and German with the help of our co-workers .

That was a total immersion for the Spanish and Italian delegation who discovered  our classrooms, the way we teach French and  Spanish and of course, our pupils.

Many thanks to my co-workers and especially  :

Mrs Juskewyz, (French teacher), Mrs Pardina,(Spanish teacher) and Mrs Lasne (German and French teacher).

http://www.lunion.presse.fr/index.php/cms/13/article/399432/__Change_by_art_____du_virtuel_au_concret

For further information have a look at our Campus Site :

http://lycee-colbert.fr/EXPOSITION-No4-PAYSAGES-INTERIEURS

Practise makes perfect!

Our two Art teachers showed the delegation the big panels which they were to  use as supports for the fresco they were about to begin altogether.  The work inspired by the « Birth of Venus  » by Botticelli is one of the cornerstone of our project and will be developped throughout the upcoming two years. The point is to mix and redefine the genre by using trivial elements such as junk mail and so to speak  making new things out of old. Suspense….

The  Comenius delegation was invited to come and listen to the works of pupils from the Lycée about metamorphosis,one of our major themes. They had prepared a series of poems of their own with the help of Mrs Préveauteau, their French Teacher.

Reading, Writing and Arythmetics

The project requires discussions  and agreements for all the partners to follow the same path while being free to choose the media they want.

These things take time and we had a very busy schedule ,

but we managed

There it was, a week ago our first mobility ended  among laughs and promises to see each other very soon.

But you don’t tell  a story by the end……..So…..

Once upon a time, on  a grey Thursday morning,   the Italian delegation, the Spanish delegation and the  French delegation, all met in the reception room of the  Cité JB Colbert to really start the  big adventure.

Ahead of us, we had  two and a half days of working sessions,brainstormings,  visits and laughs. Surely, these first   great moments will remain in  our mind as the genuine connection of our ideas to develop our project.

Part 1 : The official meeting

Stepping into the FRAC

The Transamazonian  Trail of Marine Hugonnier

In the afternoon, all the delegation went to see Marine Hugonnier‘ s works at the FRAC.

As other works of art were exhibited in the courtyard,Mr Vendenhende took the opportunity to explain the various forms of  Contemporary Art to the pupils, some of them being  not often used to seeing and interpreting such works.

While we were here, Mr Arnaud Laporte, from France Culture was interviewing the director of the FRAC about its contribution for Reims Scène d’Europe, for « Tout arrive », one of the cultural radio programme of the radio station.

Pretty  amazing sometimes, to realize how things coincide:)