FAB Paris and Philanthropic ArsNova, the charitable fund set up by Taittinger, came together to create the “pARTage” project to help young people from the Mêtis association, whose goal is to boost equality of opportunity for access to culture.
As part of the FAB Paris art fair, which brought together collections from several international art galleries from the 22 – 27 November at the Grand Palais (Paris), 49 children aged 6 – 13 were able to spend the day exploring the artworks on display. This new, solidarity-driven and custom-curated initiative aims to demystify art by re-focusing the experience on the emotion its inspires, and by introducing the children to the concept of an artistic collection.
The day began with a guided tour of four of the project’s partner galleries, each dedicated to a particular style of art: tribal art for the Monbrison gallery, painting for the Présidence gallery, sculpture for the Xavier Eeckhout gallery, and finally Japanese armour with the Jean-Christophe Charbonnier gallery. Showing both curiosity and enthusiasm, the children had plenty of questions which the gallery attendants were delighted to answer. Collector Jean-Gérard Bosio emphasised the importance of this cultural initiation, explaining: “There are three things in life we must seek out as the foundations of our happiness: the beautiful, the great and the good.”
Following these encounters, the children formed groups of three to pick their favourite piece, and express how it made them feel. Each group made a short presentation to a jury made up of nine figures from the art world (including Jean-Gérard Bosio; Céline Lefranc, editor-in-chief of Connaissance des Arts; Pauline de Montgolfier, head of marketing for Sotheby’s and Cléa Richon, head of the Réunion des Musées Nationaux project), which then selected three winning groups that had made the most moving presentation on what their favourite artwork made them feel. “This piece gave me a feeling of freedom. I felt like the artist put their heart into it,” remarked one participant. For another: “The port of Rabat reminded my of my grandfather who passed away recently, and I thought about our memories together.”
The two winning groups were awarded screen-printed posters donated by collector Jean-Gérard Bosio, while all the participants went home with creative kits and magazines donated by Rougier & Plé and Faton publications respectively.
The enthusiasm shown by the children, both in exploring the artworks and taking part in the exercise, sets the scene for a second edition of the “pARTage” project. Until next year!
