In 2019, 900 inhabitants flocked there. This Thursday, May 25, from 19:30 pm to 22:30 pm, the Monnet-Debussy school, in the district of Meudon-la-Forêt, in Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine), welcomes the public for the second edition of Alter Ego. The principle is as simple as the operation is ambitious: throughout the year, 16 local artists worked with the school's 16 classes, this time on the theme of happiness. The result is 330 student creations and 64 artists' works.
They are, if not professional, at least amateurs of high flight. "They are not Sunday smearers, summarizes Pierre Diény, the director, on all fronts a few hours before the party. Some have had awards and are exhibited abroad or even at the Grand Palais. »
Meudon, Wednesday, May 24. Shells with tiny clay-based characters: the Alter Ego exhibition has its share of surprises. LP/O.B.
This operation is also the way to highlight the establishment: its "hypermotivated" teaching team, its dynamism and... its lack of resources, both human and material, and its need for renovation. This is good, this Thursday evening, in addition to an areopagus of local elected officials, the main departmental representatives of the National Education, including Frédéric Fulgence, the new Dasen, should be in the game.
"We will take the opportunity to promote our cause," acknowledges Pierre Diény, who campaigns for the classification of the school in the priority education network. This exhibition showcases the work of a team but, at its core, we are a school, not an art gallery. In fact, we have everything of a EPR without having the means. We hope to be part of it in the next zoning next year. »
"A neighborhood where few families frequent places of culture"
Officials will discover paintings, prints, sculptures, comic strips, photographs and other hybrid creations. After the success of the 2018-2019 edition, the Covid crisis had put the project under a bell. The return to normal has revived everything.
Pierre Diény, passionate about the arts, started from a simple observation to imagine Alter Ego. "We are in a neighborhood where few families frequent cultural venues, exhibitions, concerts," says the director. However, Meudon is a very rich city in this area, with a real artistic abundance. »
Meudon, May 24. Thierry Guilbert, photographer, and Virginie Gouteyron, teacher of CE2-CM1, worked "in the manner of JR" with the students. LP/O.B.
He therefore decided to reverse the movement: it was the artists who would reach out to the children and not the other way around. The members of the association Artistes à Meudon do not hesitate and embark on the adventure. This year, even the toddlers of the extracurricular reception on Wednesdays were involved.
"First, I made them aware of the shooting, the construction of a photo, not the technique," recalls Daniel Pelloux, photographer. Then, they took pictures during a course in Meudon and the 53 most beautiful were selected by the class. Outside, Thierry Guilbert, another photographer, and Virginie Gouteyron, teacher of CE2-CM1, unfurl a mural composed of photos of the students. "I wanted a composition of the kids and their smiles," says the artist, who says he "worked like JR", the famous photographer.
Soon music and dance?
This exhibition may be only the first step in a boom in the arts at this school. The director intends to develop a partnership with the conservatory to add musical performances to the exhibition and join the Orchestra at School program.
After music, it would bedance, in order to build a complete artistic and cultural education (PEAC) course within three years. "In five years here, children would become familiar with all forms of art," Pierre Diény begins. That's what I want to finalize before I retire. »