La Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship célèbre un programme de Summer Schools aux horizons élargis

Un atelier de deux semaines consacré à la fabrication de zellige à Tétouan au Maroc a été le point culminant de la troisième édition du programme de Summer Schools.

Parmi les 105 participants cette année, les sept Summer Schools ont accueilli les premiers étudiants extra-européens
Un maître charpentier et un designer japonais sont venus enseigner les techniques de la charpenterie japonaise
En Espagne, des étudiants ont exploré les liens entre gastronomie et artisanat

Cette troisième édition du Summer School Programme, une initiative pédagogique de la Michelangelo Foundation, a été marquée par un nouveau rayonnement international. En effet, pour la première fois, une session a été organisée hors d’Europe, au Maroc, et des étudiants du monde entier ont assisté aux sept formations prévues au programme de cet été. Lors de ces formations, les participants ont appris des techniques artisanales associées à une région ou un pays en particulier. Ils ont également acquis de nouvelles compétences en design contemporain. Un de ces stages a même proposé d’explorer le lien entre l’artisanat et la gastronomie.

Au Domaine de Boisbuchet en France, douze étudiants ont eu l’occasion de s’initier à la charpenterie japonaise aux côtés du maître charpentier Takami Kawai et au design japonais avec Wataru Kumano. Ils ont ensuite mis leurs connaissances et compétences nouvellement acquises à profit pour construire un banc en bois, aménagé autour d’un des arbres du domaine. Ce projet pérenne, fruit d’une conception collective, permettra aux futurs artistes en résidence de se retrouver pour discuter de leurs idées de création dans un cadre naturel enchanteur.

« La charpenterie japonaise s’apparente à un travail collectif. La technique individuelle reste importante, mais il est indispensable de faire partie d’une équipe et de faire confiance à ses membres. » Wataru Kumano, designer japonais

À l’université d’Évora au Portugal, les étudiants ont appris comment des outils numériques pouvaient se combiner aux techniques traditionnelles de vannerie enseignées par Domingos Vaz et Fernando Nelas Pereira pour construire une structure d’ombrage rétractable. L’entreprise d’ingénierie Dosta Tec a apporté son expertise afin que la conception soit durable sur le plan environnemental tandis que les architectes Fatima Durkee et Astrid Suzano ont partagé leur savoir-faire en matière architecturale.

À Ligatne en Lettonie, chaque étudiant a fabriqué une chaise en associant les techniques du tissage d’écorce de bouleau, de la forge et de la sculpture sur bois vert. Ils ont travaillé sous la conduite des artisans lettons Rihards Vidzickis, Vizma Zvirbule, Sören Uhlmann et Janis Straupe et en suivant les conseils des designers internationaux Paul Heijnen, Maria Bruun, Lucas Maassen et Dmitri Bähler.

À St Pölten en Autriche, douze étudiants ont collaboré avec Breitweiser, une entreprise de maçonnerie locale, Judith Wagner, sculptrice, et Daniel Zeisner, designer. Ensemble ils ont exploré différentes façons d’allier les techniques de maçonnerie traditionnelles à une technologie de pointe pour créer des objets fonctionnels ainsi que des œuvres d’art. Entre lampes et pots de fleurs, des œuvres d’art empreintes d’humour et une table étonnante, les étudiants ont démontré leurs nouvelles compétences en proposant des créations uniques en leur genre.

Dans la région de Castille-La Manche en Espagne, dix-sept étudiants ont réalisé des pièces en céramique inspirées des traditions artisanales de Talavera et de la gastronomie locale pour le restaurant étoilé, El Raices. Les étudiants ont collaboré avec maître céramiste Gustavo del Pino et Laura Nava, enseignante en design, d’une part, ainsi qu’avec un expert de la gastronomie Fernando Rafael et le chef étoilé Carlos Maldonado.

À Crémone en Italie, douze étudiants internationaux, dont certains venus d’aussi loin que le Japon, se sont réunis afin d’étudier la restauration d’instruments de musique anciens sous la houlette de cinq maîtres et experts. Pendant une semaine, ils ont appris à nettoyer et restaurer les instruments à cordes anciens à l’aide d’une technologie moderne et de techniques artisanales traditionnelles.

Pour plus d’informations : michelangelofoundation.org

Notes for editors

michelangelofoundation.org

@homofaber

The Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship is a non-profit institution based in Geneva which champions contemporary craftspeople worldwide with the aim of promoting a more human, inclusive and sustainable future. The foundation seeks to highlight the connections between craft and the wider arts and the design world. Its mission is to both celebrate and preserve craftsmanship and its diversity of makers, materials and techniques, by increasing craft’s everyday recognition and its viability as a professional path for the next generations. From engaging educational programmes such as the Summer School to its signature digital project the Homo Faber Guide and international exhibition the Homo Faber Event, the foundation is fostering a cultural movement centred on master artisans and rising stars.

michelangelofoundation.org

homofaber.com

Contemporanea de Artes y Oficios (CAO) is an association that promotes both traditional and contemporary Spanish crafts. They seek to protect Spanish craftsmanship, and use it to foster the development of culture, history and art and boost its economic benefits on the environment and tourism industry. Their main targets are to ensure an environment in which Spanish craftspeople can thrive and to aid them in having further commercial reach in Spain and internationally. The CAO collaborates with similar institutions to ideate best practices; they assist with the development of commercial platforms for craftspeople; they organise seminars, forums and talks. Beyond this, they use media for widespread visibility for arts and crafts; they launch programmes that promote crafts and engage in research projects. Their collective expertise enables them to provide consulting services to artisans and ateliers. forodeartesyoficios.com

Castilla–La Mancha is an autonomous community of Spain comprising the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo, it was created in 1982. The government headquarters are in Toledo. Artesanía de Castilla-La Mancha has launched various initiatives with the aim of highlighting how essential it is today to generate synergies between the world of design and craftsmanship, to achieve artisan mastery as a technique for recovering tradition, a reflection of the culture, the people, the geography and the soul of Castilla-La Mancha, and thus projecting it exponentially beyond our region. castillalamancha.es

The Domaine de Boisbuchet is an international centre for research and education on sustainably innovative design and architecture. Founded in 1986 by Alexander von Vegesack, it is located in the Southwest of France on 150 hectares of protected nature, namely forest, pasture, a river, a small lake, and an unpolluted fauna and flora. Boisbuchet's core activity are workshops for professionals and students in all kinds of applied arts – from craft to industrial design and engineering, from photography to scenography and curating, and from food to fashion and architecture. Internationally renowned pioneers in their fields direct these workshops offering practical experiences in all aspects of the creative process. Likewise, creative residencies can be realized in Boisbuchet. Boisbuchet is run by a team of cultural entrepreneurs, architects, and designers and gathers participants, visitors, and partners from all over the world. boisbuchet.org

Passa Ao Futuro founded in 2016 by Astrid Suzano and Fatima Durkee, is a cultural initiative non-profit association that seeks out craftspeople in Portugal working with traditional techniques. It strives to support these communities and people through the documentation and preservation of their tacit knowledge, the development of case specific social, environmental and economic sustainability programmes, with a focus on the celebration and passing on of skills. The association activates this network through several initiatives including residencies, summer schools, exhibitions, social innovation and sustainability training. It supports the crafts as a catalyst for a regenerative future. passaaofuturo.com

Founded in 2016 in Riga (Latvia), MAD Design Summer School offers an alternative approach to design and art education. At MAD’s base lies a unique creative environment, shaped by bringing designers, artists, craftspeople and scientists together under one roof. It encourages creative development with this setting, by promoting dialogue, discovery and self-assessment. Its programme combines both new and traditional methods - fusing design, art, technology, science and craftsmanship – to allow true creative thinking to take place. By working with raw materials, young creatives are simultaneously guided towards a more sustainable manufacturing mindset. They are aided by talented local craftspeople in a programme to pass on savoir-faire. By preserving and passing on their knowledge, they aim to inspire tomorrow's designers in their journeys to create innovative and meaningful products. designsummerschool.com/

The New Design University St. Pölten (NDU) was founded by the Lower Austrian Chamber of Commerce and its Business Development Institute in 2004. As an international destination for quality education in the fields of design, technology and business, the NDU trains creative thinkers who advance social change and explore tomorrow’s work and design practice today. The New Design University is a young, future-oriented private university. Its distinguishing feature is the high degree of personal tuition; also, the university attaches much importance to combining theory with creative practice. The university is committed to offering the best possible career advantages to its approximately 600 students. The NDU is fond of blazing its own trail and is always on the lookout for creative thinkers willing to take untrodden paths. ndu.ac.at/en

The Institut National des Beaux-Arts de Tétouan (INBA) in Morocco is an institution of higher education in the field of art, under the authority of the Ministry of Culture. It trains creative young people in the various fields of visual arts. Its vocation is to stimulate the development of new talents and train creative personalities (artists, designers, comic book authors, animated films, etc.) who can follow singular paths within a wide spectrum of disciplines in the world of visual arts (modern and contemporary). A multidisciplinary team of research professors, artists, architects and experienced professionals ensure the theoretical, artistic and technical training and structure for the students. inbart.org

The University of Pavia is the most ancient athenaeum of Lombardy and one of the most oldest of Europe, being established in 1361. Today, it counts more than 25.000 students for the 17 departments of its branches, one in Pavia and the other one in Cremona, and takes part in international projects in networks with the most prestigious colleges of the world and promotes interdisciplinary research. The current Department of Musicology and Cultural Heritage is based in Cremona and it offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Musicology, Science of literary text and cultural heritage, as well as a PhD programme. The International School of Violin Making is partnered with the University of Pavia’s musicology department. web-en.unipv.it

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