Recreation of artist’s residency in Principality’s schools

Pupils with artist Oriol Vilanova, in the background on the right, and Benjamin Laugier, Visitor Manager, in the foreground on the right. © Government Communication Department / Stéphanne Danna

At the beginning of the year, with the support of the Prince’s Government, the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco introduced an artist’s residency in the Principality’s two lower secondary schools: Collège Charles III and the private François d’Assise - Nicolas Barré school. The initiative was carried out in partnership with the Department of Education, Youth and Sport. Pupils were invited to consider what it means to collect and how this approach can be translated into artistic practice.

Oriol Vilanova, the first artist to conduct workshops with Year 9 (4^ème) pupils taking the Visual Arts Option, is best known for the incredible collection of thousands of postcards that he has amassed over 15 years. His collection forms the basis for his artistic practice, which considers the way our point of view can be adjusted and how certain images or works appeal to us.

The pupils were first invited to photograph their collections (coins, stamps, toys or souvenirs, etc.), focusing particularly on the quality of the shots and the staging of the collection. During a second workshop, they had the opportunity to present their photographed collections. In addition, Oriol Vilanova invited the pupils to draw inspiration from online videos dedicated to unpacking items or to the Asian minimalist trends that involve getting rid of all superfluous objects and only keeping what is essential. The aim of this artistic approach was to raise pupils’ awareness of the different ways of presenting items online, as well as of their digitalisation and their virtualisation. The pupils then had to create a new personal collection – this time an imaginary one – based on objects from their digital presentations.

As a result of this experience, two works were created and are being exhibited at Villa Sauber until 27 October:

– Une collection peut en cacher une autre (One collection can hide another), an audio work which was also presented on Sunday 29 September at the Théâtre Princesse Grace for European Heritage Days. It will soon be available online, too.

- Share your life with an image, a set of old postcards of the Museum, which the artist suggested that students carry around in their jackets, schoolbags or exercise books for several months, accelerating the decomposition process of the image and the media on which it is printed until it disappears altogether.

A new school residency is set to be organised for the 2020/2021 school year.