Wandering through Paris
Three sunny, intense days in Paris are behind me.
Not as a tourist, but as an artist moving between embassies, art schools and workshops, listening to how other makers shape their worlds. I was able to speak with many young French makers. The conversations with fellow artists like Lennard and Jose also made the metro miles and steps through the city fly by.
Artist in the Ambassade des Pays-Bas
On invitation of the Dutch Embassy in Paris, I joined a petit comité from the Creative Vocational Schools network. The official goal was educational collaboration, but for me it felt mostly like an extended studio visit: Parisian streets as corridors between pockets of craft, design and artistic mind. We really put in the miles, from Haussmann façades to full classrooms, workshop floors and meeting rooms filled with croissants and pains au chocolat. And yes, I often lingered at the Christmas shop windows, diving into the vivid compositions of light and colour. I was literally in awe of the artistic staging.
international art exchange
At the Embassy we spoke with the diplomat (Education and Science) about our shared ambitions: long-term collaboration around craftsmanship and art & design, and creating space for people to learn, work and create across borders. For me as an artist, this international exchange is not an abstract concept, but a living context: it influences how I look, what I paint and with whom I want to build future projects. Building a network is part of that, too.
artistic matchmaking
We visited Le Campus Mode, Métiers d’Art & Design, Lycée Maximilien Vox (design, print and fine arts) and Lycée Léonard de Vinci (woodwork and scenography). Different places, same drive: hands, materials, imagination. The trip ended at the Manufacture des Gobelins, with conversations about artistic matchmaking, guest lectures, joint exhibitions and new forms of collaboration between France and the Netherlands.
L’Atelier Néerlandais
The next step is already on my list: arranging a meeting at l’Atelier Néerlandais, as a bridge between my own practice, Dutch creative communities and the Paris art and design scene. A place where education, exhibitions and artistic research can overlap, and where new projects can begin.
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