Courses in the past

September 8th-15th 2019 Kick off

The fall kick-off interfering with landscapes focused on music, sculpture, photography, philosophy and history of Provence, and creative strategies for the European Union and took place in Saignon from September 8th-15th 2019.

The core element was to explore different aspects of the landscape of Provence, through the senses (smell, taste, vision, tactile), the historic layers and philosophical ideas, walks and visits. The intersection of disciplines, senses and places enabled a profound understanding of the culture present, and inspired all participants for new collaborations and project ideas.

During our kick off we had ateliers on:

Explore Saignon and discover the Luberon (Christoph Klütsch). During this walk through Saignon we discussed the historical significance of Saignon as a prehistoric settlement, a roman outpost to control the Via Domitia, the significance during the medieval times as a powerful monetary, the connection to King Rene's power during the renaissance, and its history of artists like Julio Cortazar, Pablo Neruda.
Listening Laboratory (Jan Kopp). Jan Kopp contrasted modern classic compositions with recordings of nature phenomenon, to raise the question of perception and composition. The change of perception were shown in listening to one of his compositions in different contexts.
Dry Gardens in the Provence (Corinne Detroyat)
Scents of Provence (Daniel Plettenberg): The modern art of perfume making was invented in the Provence in the 17th and 18th century. Going back to the roots off perfume making, the participants collected flowers, blossoms, leaves, plants and made simple alcoholic extracts from these raw materials. In a perfume making workshop these pure alcoholic extracts were combined with other classic essences to create true scents of the Provence.
Deleuze in the forest (Christoph Klütsch). During this walk through the Cedar Forest in Bonnieux we talked about the significance of the connection between walking, philosophy and teaching during Greek antiquity. We discussed ideas of nature, place and horizon and explored biological and geological concepts as they have been enriched by Gilles Deleuze.
Cultural landscapes (Ernst-Guenther Herrmann)
Shifting French politics (Peter Rohan). Even though Saignon is not a hotspot in the confrontation between gilets jaunes (yellow vests) and Macrons French republic, we were able to find central ideas of the conflict inscribed in the villagescape. On a walking tour from medieval to modern part of the typical Luberon village we could see traces of moral economy, centralization, dependence on cars and centralized political, educational and bureaucratic structures in the streets and squares of Saignon. In the end we were able to tie these loose ends together in the one and only round about and in a discussion of the differences between political movement form above and from below as well as on the specifics of the yellow vest movement.
Rethinking the EU (Daniel Plettenberg): The times for the EU today are difficult: a more and more felt distance between the citizens and the EU, unsolved problems, political decisions that are not always understandable … And the Brexit. A good time to go back and understand why the EU was founded, what were the ideas back then, and why this has little to do with today’s EU. In this workshop we defined the founding principles that help us to develop new ideas for the future of the EU.
Studio visit (Gabriel Sobin)
Cultural participation in the EU (Martin Koplin)