Elise LONGUET Fondation Culture & Diversité / Fimalac

Administratrice / Director of the External Relations Department and Corporate Philantropy

U.N.E.S.C.O. 1st Celebration of the international Arts Education Week

21st to 27th May 2012

PRESENTATION:

« The Foundation Culture & Diversité, a french exemple of struggle against discriminations in artistical and cultural education access »

In introduction: brief description of the Foundation Culture & Diversité

1/ Persistence of discrimination in the access to artistic and cultural education

2/ Benefits of the extension and democratization of the access to artistic and cultural education

3/ Two specific programs of the Foundation:

- The « Making movies » program

- The « Travel to learn art crafting jobs » program

“Foundation Culture & Diversité”

• Created in 2006 by Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière

• One goal: promoting access of young people from priority education (French most disadvantaged schools) and/or modest backgrounds into the arts and culture

• Two means: - Social cohesion programs

- Equal opportunity programs

Major figures of the Foundation Culture & Diversité

• High school students accompanied and supported: 12 000

• Partners from the cultural and educational sector: 30

• High schools involved in our actions: 157

Programs in favor of Social Cohesion

6 different programs organized:

• Practice and discover Theatre

• Practice and discover Contemporary dance

• Creativity development through art plastics worshops animated by artists

• Practice and discover Classical music

• Discover and understand how images are used in today world

• Improvisation contests through a national competition

Young People accompanied and supported 7 000

workshops 86

Artists which have participated to the programs 140

Equal opportunity programs

• 4600 High school students have been accompanied and supported by the Foundation to facilitate access to artistic and cultural education

8 Programs:

« Study history of Arts » « Study to be a museum curator »

« Enter in a Art School » « Travel to learn Arts and Crafts »

« Make cinema » « Become a journalist »

« Choose the job of architect » « Discover Art related jobs »

- Social Cohesion:

- For the Foundation, artistic and cultural education is one of the best tool to create cohesion, dialogue and harmony in a country. Art is universal, it transcends cultures, religions, and classes.

- Without making any positive discrimination, the foundation tries to give the opportunity to everyone to access to artistic and cultural education .

- Definition:

The Foundation considers as discrimination all social, geographical or economical facts that create differences in the access to artistic and cultural education between two people.

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1. Persistence of discrimination in the access to the artistic and cultural education

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• A lack of information:

Artistic and culture education omitted by orientation process in high school

• A self-censorship phenomenon:

Young people believe for several reasons that these formations are not made for them.

• Risk:

- Letting these young people out of artistic studies

- Lack of diversity in art schools and in art world

2. Benefits of the extension and democratization of the access to artistic and cultural education

• Diversity:

- For the Foundation, diversity embrasses social, geographical, and economical areas.

-Multiple backgrounds are advantages for the artistic scene and creation in general

• Equal opportunity:

- A society should provide to everyone an equal access to culture through observation, pratice and education.

3. A structured methodology to struggle against social and geographical discriminations

1. Inform students about the different schools and courses

(5000 students since 2006)

2. Prepare volontary

students to the art schools’

exams

(500 students since 2006)

3. Support students during their education

(100 students since 2006)

Photos : Alejandro Zapata, Marion Guillon, Marine Calado

An example of our action against discriminations: the « make cinema » program

In partnership with the Femis, one of the best french cinema school, this program goal is to promote equal opportunity in cinema education.

55 youngs prepared

16,7% success rate for the Foundation students

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Inform: the Femis go into high schools to present the school and the courses.

Select: the interested students send a complete presentation file to the Foundation in order to integrate the program.

Learn: the 15 selected students participate to 4 workshops:

- An initiation to documentary film, students develop their image skills

- Meetings with professionals, learning of theoretical knowledge about cinema

- Preparation to the Fémis exam

- Participation to Fémis’ first years students in achieving their film creation exam.

Support and accompany all the students in their professional insertion. ©

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The « travel to learn Arts and Crafts » program in partnership with the UNESCO

Purpose:

• Give the opportunity to arts and crafts students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds to complete a study tour abroad.

• It allows French scholarship students to discover the know-how of craftspeople in developing countries

• And it allows students from developing countries to discover the know-how of French craftspeople.

• 14 students travelled abroad since the launch of the program in 2010

Two Foundation students

- Malian Student

- Specialized in pottery and sculpture

- Came in France to learn porcelain

- French student

- Specialized in Textile Art

- Came to Chili to learn the Crin weaving technic of the mapuche community.

© Zoé Montagu

© Abdoulaye Diakité

Etc…

« L’art est le plus court chemin de l’homme

à l’homme »

André Malraux (former french ministry of Culture 1959 – 1969)

« Art is the shortest path from man to man »