“Tokyo University of the Arts × École des Beaux-Arts”, one of the three units of the 2015 International Joint Curriculum for Global Art  is a project with the theme of “Nature and Myself”. The participants will deepen the knowledge of the history of natural disasters and the resulting damages that people have repeatedly faced and gain the insight for the Japanese view of nature, enabling to expand the range of artistic expression through self-introspection.

The first part of the project will consist of research to gain in-depth knowledge. Communication between the participating students from both institutions through discussions and pair works will facilitate a practical application of “social practice”

The project will come to an end with the performance event “Nature and Myself”, which will be performed on the stage in Bunagaike Botanical Garden during a camp school of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial. The preparation will include workshops with children, and planning choreography and designing costumes using natural objects for the performance. Communication with others, stage settings and costumes as a form of contemporary art, physical expression on the stage will all be documented and exhibited at the venue of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial.
※Caurriculum duration :May ～September 2015

1st Session

Session period
June 2 ~June 16 2015

Lecturers in charge
Tokyo University of the Arts：Toyomi Hoshina Dean of the faculty of Fine Arts, Tsuyoshi Ozawa Associate Professor, Hidenori Sonobe Assistant Professor, and Nahoko Wada Specially Appointed Associate Professor
École des Beaux-Arts：Jean-Luc Vilmouth Professor , and Clélia Zernik Professor

Overview
Prior to this first session of Collaborative Lecture, in May 2015, the faculty of École des Beaux-Arts and Geidai students had conducted a preparatory research and discussion on the common theme of “NATURE AND ME”. During this first session, a series of collaborative lectures was offered at École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The participants from both institutions discussed the matters of interpretation/misinterpretation of culture, with the example of disaster stricken areas of the world and the differences observed in their restoration.

Activity Report

Collaborative Workshop1

Panorama Drawing workshop at Parc des Buttes-Chaumont.
A good communication is needed to connect neighboring drawing pieces together.
Lecturer: Tsuyoshi Ozawa (Tokyo University of the Arts)

Reviewing Session on the drawing workshop
Participants discussed their achievements of workshop. They checked the finished panorama drawing considering how each piece maintained its sequential property in terms of drawing touch.
Lecturers: Tsuyoshi Ozawa (Tokyo University of the Arts), Jean-Luc Vilmouth (École des Beaux-Arts), Clélia Zernik (École des Beaux-Arts), Hidenori Sonobe (Tokyo University of the Arts) and Nahoko Wada (Tokyo University of the Arts)

Collaborative Workshop2

A workshop of making pigments with natural materials.
Boiled Rubia to extract red color. Groups of three students from both institutions were formed to work together.
Lecturer: Pascal Accoyer (École des Beaux-Arts)

Collaborative Workshop3

A workshop using the collection of drawings.
In the collection room of École des Beaux-Arts, guided by a collection manager, students compared Japanese Ukiyo-e and French watercolor paintings in the18th century and discussed their differences of expression in representing nature. They also talked about Katsushika Hokusai ‘s “Waterfall”.
Lecturer: Clélia Zernik (École des Beaux-Arts)

Collaborative Workshop4

A lecture on the collection in the morphology class room.
Lecturer: Philippe Comar (École des Beaux-Arts)

Lecture1 “Humans and Frogs”

A lecture  by an art history lecturer of Beaux-Arts.
Lecturer: Didier Semin (École des Beaux-Arts)

Lecture2 “Activities as an artist”

A lecture on his past activities and future plans by Tsuyoshi Ozawa
Lecturer: Tsuyoshi Ozawa (Tokyo University of the Arts)

Lecture3 “Activities after 3.11”

The activities after 2011 Tōhoku earthquake by Nahoko Wada: Volunteering at the disaster-stricken area and the exhibitions and workshops for children curated by her.
Lecturer: Nahoko Wada (Tokyo University of the Arts)

Lecture4 “Japanese Crafts”

A lecture on Japanese traditional woodworking equipment and his works by Hidenori Sonobe
Lecturer: Hidenori Sonobe (Tokyo University of the Arts)

Lecture5 “Activities as an artist”

A lecture with slides of his past and current works by Toyomi Hoshina. Also  the concept of “Bunagaike Botanical Garden” was introduced , which is the venue of a performance event in the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale.
Lecturer: Toyomi Hoshina (Tokyo University of the Arts)

Self-Introduction by Geidai students

Ten Geidai students made presentations respectively on their past art works.

Presentation of research outcomes by two Geidai student groups

“Nature and Disaster” 
The students presented to their French counterparts the outcomes of their preparatory research on damages caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, eruptions and typhoons that have repeatedly attacked Japan, and also reconstruction from such disasters.

“Life in Niigata and the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial”
Students made a presentation on the effects of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial which is known for a hugely successful international art festival that first started to revitalize a declining region of Niigata prefecture. The local features of Niigata found through their research were also introduced.

Research work for expressing contemporary art

With the guide of some Beaux-Arts students, toured the Louvre and National Museum of Natural History.

Visiting the art gallery and museum in École des Beaux-Arts was a good opportunity for the participating students to learn about the trends of the students of École des Beaux-Arts as well as those of contemporary artists in France.

A commentary session on Monet’s works and the museum collection by a curator at Musée de l’Orangerie.

A commentary session on building a contemporary art collection at the office of the Carmignac Foundation(Fondation Carmignac).Visited some contemporary art galleries around École des Beaux-Arts accompanied by Jany Lauga from the Beaux-Arts school, and had a chance to talk to an exhibitor in person. The tour was a great opportunity for the students to experience the trends in contemporary art scene in France.

Visited Musée du quai Branly as a research activity for an art project.

Presentation by Japanese and French students

Presentation on the “Mask” pair work project.
The presentations of an art project by the pairs of the Japanese and the French students who jointly created a mask and took the pictures in the city of Paris.

Exhibition of collaborative art works

Exhibition of “Mask” at Vilmouth studio.
Both the art works of “Mask” and the pictures taken in Paris by the binational student pairs were exhibited.