Ladies and gentlemen parliamentarians,
Mr President of rRegion, dear Renaud MUSELIER,
Dear Mayor Hervé SCHIAVETTI,
Ladies and gentlemen elected,
Madam Chair, dear Delphine,
Director, dear Rémy FENZY,
Dear Marc BARANI,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear friends,
There is no better framework for teaching Beauty than a building that embodies it. The walls surrounding us seem to have been shaped with this conviction. It is a pleasure to inaugurate, at your side, this temple of glass, stone and light. This building which resembles no other (ii) is a credit to the school it hosts. A school which, too, is unlike any other. Yes: the National School of Photography is unique in the world.
Unique because it is the only French national institution entirely devoted to the study of photography. Unique by the international reputation it has acquired since its creation in 1982.
Unique because it can take pride in being one of the last establishments – if not the last – to continue the practice of old processes and to strengthen its silver industry. Unique because the professional integration of its graduates approaches 95% – and you can be proud of it! Unique by its continuous training offer, particularly innovative. Unique by the place of choice it occupies in the Arles cultural ecosystem.
So, he needed a case to his height. A case that is unlike any other.
The spaces that the School occupied were unsuited to its needs, to the evolution of its activities.
It was necessary to give it the place and the means it deserves, to enable it: to offer its students a teaching of excellence, and to coexist digital and silver technologies.
Six years ago, the President of the Republic François Hollande announced his relocation. And here we are today. With, in front of us, an original and singular project.
Here, it will be more than a school. It will also be a research centre. It will also be a place of creation. It will also be a place for dissemination and exhibition. It will be a place for sharing, meeting, knowledge and reflection.
An open place: Open to the world, based on a network of institutions with similar ambitions. I’m thinking: the International Center for Photography in New York, or the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson. Open to the public, with its fablab, auditorium and all-glass exhibition gallery.
Above all, it will be a place for photography. A place for photographers.
They will have at their disposal unique laboratories, color as black and white, silver as digital; technical workshops; photo studios; spaces of residences allowing to house researchers and speakers; monstration rooms.
Here, artists will be accompanied, from training to exhibition, throughout their creative journey. This ambition is also mine.
I had the opportunity to reaffirm that by setting up the National Council of Visual Arts Professions a few days ago. That’s one of my priorities.
Because there is no culture without artists. I am determined to strengthen their place in our society; to put them back at the heart of our cultural policies.
To make France a strong place for art. To support creators at every stage of their careers. To strengthen their presence throughout the territory.
This school contributes to this. We owe this box of glass, stone and light, these windows and these lines open on the city, to a man.
A visionary creator. An architect of genius. It is thanks to you, dear Marc BARANI, that this splendour was born.
Your project quickly became obvious: its simplicity, elegance, timeless architecture and the dialogue it proposed to establish with the Luma Foundation.
' VerticallyFrank GEHRY’s project, rélays the strained horizontality of the E.N.S.P. ”, as you say.
You thought of it both as a place for the public, and as a place for photographers. For the public, you have made it an open space, which encourages the curious to walk through its doors, all in transparency. The windows show what he thinks about it; what he creates. School is not only a place of work; it is also a place of life. For photographers, you have made it a space for exchange, where teaching and research gather around a patio.
The architecture of the building mimics, in a way, the process of revealing photography. It accentuates the contrasts between shadow and light – this opposition that is at the heart of the photographic practice of the origins: that of the silver, which continues to be taught here.
The School offers all gradations, all intensities of light, from darkness to full sun: from the black of the laboratories where the latent image is revealed, to the illuminated walls where the first tests are observed; from the darkness of the storage spaces where precious objects are kept, to the controlled light of the walls where the photographs are displayed.
Even in its architecture, this school dialogue with the values of photography. It also dialogue with the city that surrounds it.
We recognize your style, in this transversality of architectural, urban and landscape approaches, which is so dear to you. This style, your style, we have the pleasure of being able to admire it at the City of Architecture and Heritage.
She is currently presenting your work, until September 16. This exhibition, which you share with Frédéric BOREL, Jean-Marc IBOS and Myrto VITART, is part of a broader ambition.
An ambition of the Ministry of Culture, which I carry and defend. The ambition to promote the work of the National Grand Prix of architecture. To highlight their exemplary work.
To raise society’s awareness of contemporary architecture. To invite us to lift our eyes and contemplate the Beauty that surrounds us, in every place, in every moment.
Thanks to the architecture. Thanks to the architects.
Dear Marc BARANI: Thank you for this school. Thank you for this masterpiece. Thank you for your commitment to bringing culture to our country. For the Beauty that you bring: in Arles, as in Paris, and in all our territories. This School is a new proof. The auditorium of the Institut de France, recently inaugurated, is another.
Thank you also for your commitment to improve the conditions of practice of the profession of architect, alongside the Ministry of Culture: Yesterday, under the «National Strategy for Architecture». Today, in that of the mission «values of architecture».
This mission aims to promote architecture, to highlight its contributions to society, to reveal the role of architects, elected officials, actors of territories and civil society; to highlight economic values, social, cultural and environmental architecture.
Because, yes, architecture is a lever of economic development for the territories! A lever of social cohesion, of international cultural influence! Yes, we need architects to lead the ecological transition!
You are taking an active part in the work of this mission, dear Marc, and I am grateful to you.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to warmly thank all those who worked to make this project possible.
First, the School and its staff, who have been mobilizing for almost 9 years on this project. Thank you, Mr Director, dear Rémy FENZY, for your commitment every moment. And welcome to Marta GILI, who will have the beautiful task of bringing this new building to life and exploiting all its potential for the benefit of students, photographers and the public.
Thank you to all the design offices and companies that are still working, even today and until October, to allow a serene return of students in this building.
Thanks to the Operator of Heritage and Cultural Real Estate Projects, who brilliantly managed the project: thank you, dear Clarisse MAZOYER.
Thanks to the local authorities involved: the Provence Alpes-Côte-d'Azur Region – Mr President, dear Renaud MUSELIER, the agglomeration community – Mr President, dear Claude VULPIAN and finally, How could I forget the one who was so involved in making this school happen?
Mayor Hervé SCHIAVETTI: Thank you for your leadership in this project.
And thank you to the City of Arles, whose involvement was decisive to make this school a reality. To make it this sanctuary of Beauty.
Ladies and gentlemen, Dear friends,
It is always an emotional moment to open a school: a place where knowledge, transmission and love of art will live. A place where creators will forge their gaze.
A place that will see the photographers of tomorrow: those who will soon invest the Encounters. It is always a moment full of emotion, and it is even more so when this place is of a beauty like no other.
As it is here.