Past Talks & Panels

Revisiting the Roaring Twenties: Art, Culture and the École de Paris

Monday, January 27, 2020
FIAP Centre

Open and free to all

Presented as part of the Inter-format Symposium during the Multidisciplinary Residency Program, this all-day event will feature talks and panel discussions by Paris-based and international speakers reflecting on the intercultural exchange during the 1920s, from the birth of modernism to the influence of this period on the contemporary arts and culture.

The event will be facilitated by Dr. Nadja Cohen, a French scholar in the fields of literature and cinema, who specializes in the key period of European cultural history: the first half of the twentieth century.

The goal of this event is not only to highlight the important role that international artistic community have played in Paris during the 20th Century, but also to support cross-cultural dialogue today.

Between the sessions, you are also invited to visit the L’AiR Arts Studios, meet the artists-in-residence, and engage in the interactive dance!

Schedule of the Day

9:30 - 10:00 Studio visits
10:00 - 12:00 Session one: 1920s Paris, a vital hub for international avant-garde artists
12:00 - 14:00 Lunch break + Studio visits
14:00 - 14:30 Session two: Networks and Novelty - Drivers of Artists' Fame
14:30 - 16:00 Session three: 2020s Paris - Contemporary projects
16:00 - 16:15 Interactive dance break
16:15 - 17:00 Coffee break + Studio visits
17:00 - 19:00 Session four: How the creative power of place can influence art and culture on a global scale

Session one:
1920s Paris: a vital hub for international avant-garde artists and their influence in contemporary culture

This panel will present an opportunity to hear from art scholars and practitioners, specializing in the interwar period:

Roaring ‘20s and the women artists in Paris
by Dr. Ewa Bobrowska

The increasing participation of women in social, cultural and artistic life since the second half of the 19th century was particularly marked in France in the 1920s. In many areas, women had to replace the male population decimated during World War I. At the same time, women’s struggle for equality in the artistic domain had been more and more successful. In addition, women arriving in the French capital were part of the prevailing trend and aspired to occupy a prominent place in the international artistic milieu of Paris. Using the examples of Polish female artist Mela Muter and several other female artists close to her, such as Olga Boznanska or Chana Orloff, Dr. Bobrowska will try to answer questions about the integration of women in the artistic environment of the 1920s. Who were the women artists in Paris at that time? What was their perception of the city's artistic scene? Was the place of foreign women artists different from the French ones? There is also the question of their recognition today. Is their broad participation in artistic life reflected in the actual research? Can their works be found in museums? And finally, can the rule of triple marginalization: as women, as foreigners and as artists be applied to them?

Between poetry and film: Benjamin Fondane and the art of crossing borders
by Dr. Nadja Cohen

This talk will tackle the relationships between poetry and cinema in the 1920 in the context of the Parisian avant-gardes, from an intercultural point of view. It will mostly rely on the case of the Romanian poet Benjamin Fondane, deeply influenced by Dada and surrealism, who came to Paris in the 1920s. Along with other poets of the time, like Cendrars or Desnos, he was fascinated by cinema and wrote about the new medium but also under its influence, as shown by an enigmatic series of texts he called "cine-poems" or «unfilmable scripts» in which he aimed at capturing the very essence of modernity.

Montparnasse Studio Academies and Turkish Artists in Paris in the 20s
by Clotilde Scordia

On October 1923, the Republic of Turkey is proclaimed. This date corresponds to a radical modernization in all fields in the country (new alphabet, new civil code, Islam is no more a state religion, women’s right to vote…). According to Atatürk’s slogan :
”Turkify, Modernize, Westernize”, fine arts follow the movement. The Mecca is Paris and many Turkish artists came here to be students in academies in Montparnasse’s studios (André Lhote, Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Académie Julian…) We will focus on several important Turkish figures, including Fahrelnissa Zeid (1901-1991), one of the first modern female-artist in Turkey, who came to Paris in the 20s to study at the André Lhote’s studio and Académie Ranson with Roger Bissière.

Music Halls, Salons and Opera Houses, Dance in 1920’s Paris
by Susan Hamlin

Arriving from Russia in the east and America in the west, dance during the 1920’s in Paris was an eclectic mix of styles and cultural representations. The venues where dancers of various origins performed reflected this diversity. With the arrival of artists like Loïe Fuller and Josephine Baker in the music halls and Isadora Duncan who danced in private salons, as well as on theatre stages, the Parisian audience’s perception of the female dancer was permanently altered. The Ballets Russes with their modern, multi- national spectacles changed forever classical dancing, which had been the dominion of the French since the 18th century. The roaring ‘20’s were a time of upheaval and revolution in the history of dance in the western world and it all began in Paris.

American Theatre in Paris from the 1920s to 2020s
by Clarence Tokley

An award-winning filmmaker, producer, writer, actor, and director, Clarence Tolkey will discuss his move to France from the USA, and his work in Paris as the Director the Big Funk Company (BFC) that presents multilingual productions (theater and film) using works from great American authors of the 20th century and beyond. The BFC presents plays in English and French while working with a brilliant group of talented international artists from a variety of cultural backgrounds.

Session two
Networks and Novelty: Drivers of Artists' Fame

Video Conference by Mitali Banerjee, Assistant Professor, Strategy & Business Policy Division, HEC Paris

Dr. Mitali Banerjee studies the relationship between fame, creativity and social networks in creative industries. As part of this research, she examines how innovator's social networks shape how well-known they are beyond their peers. In related research she is examining, how producers' reputation among their peers shapes the amount of attention they receive in mainstream press. Her research combines cutting edge tools in machine learning with unique empirical contexts – modern art, jazz and more recently executive search. Her work with machine learning based measures of novelty has led to her interest in examining organizational principles to combine AI and human evaluations to address some of the historic inequalities in labor markets and uncover new talent. Dr. Banerjee will present the results of her research which combines cutting edge tools in machine learning with unique data on early 20th century artists' social networks, which shows that artists with nationally diverse social networks were more likely to be famous independent of the novelty of their work. In another study, she examines the role of artists' peak and average creativity in shaping their fame.

Mitali Banerjee completed her Ph.D. in Management from Columbia Business School. She graduated Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in Mathematics (BS) and Economics (BA) from the University of Rochester. Before embarking on her PhD, she worked in investment banking and was a research associate in the Strategy division at Harvard Business School.

Session three
2020s Paris: Contemporary projects

Jazz Orchestra of the 2020s
by Frédéric Maurin, Artistic Director, National Jazz Orchestra / Orchestre National de Jazz

Frédéric Maurin was appointed for a four year mandate in January 2019 as the new Artistic Director of the 'Orchestre National de Jazz' (ONJ). He is a composer and guitarist who has enjoyed a brilliant 14-year career at the helm of Ping Machine—a formation unanimously recognized as a reference for the jazz scene in Europe. He has recently inaugurated the twelfth chapter of the artistic adventures of the ONJ, France's National Jazz Orchestra. A space for creation, experimenting, and multiple encounters, the ‘Orchestre National de Jazz’ under the artistic direction of Frédéric Maurin, features varying inter-generational casts comprised of French and foreign musicians, both men and women. Each ONJ programme favours experimentation with forms and formats and with material that increases the instrumentation possibilities across the spectrum of new creations. Frédéric Maurin's tenure has allowed him to create a number leading programmes, including the ONJ's Youth Orchestra, with the ambition of enhancing and transmitting the incredible richness and diversity of the music that the ONJ and its variants have been producing for the past 30 years. An outward-looking project, leading Jazz into the 20s of the 21st century!

What is the role of the arts and of creativity, next to the humanities, in a world facing major changes?
by Margalit Berriet

Margalit Berriet, Paris-based curator, research artist and a President-Founder and Director of Mémoire de l’Avenir, will speak about the Arts and Society project - a global movement of artists, reflecting on their impact on societies. Created in partnership with the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences, UNESCO-Most, and Global Chinese Arts and Culture Society, it incorporates multi-disciplinary competencies of artists and scholars, with the aim to promote intercultural understanding and exchange via the Arts and Patremonies.

Session four
How the creative power of place can influence art and culture on a global scale

Presentations by the international artists and cultural professionals:

In Praise of Play: Thanks Man
By Martie Holmer, United States

Martie Holmer is a New York artist and a dedicated educator, teaching color and composition at Rhode Island School of Design. From her first exhibits of textile-related works, and later with her painted sculptural pieces to the more current works on paper, Martie Holmer has forged ahead to her own drum beat. Much of her work has been built around the dichotomy between opposites: Human vs. Nature, intuitive vs. designed, randomness vs. controlled or permanent vs. fleeting. All of this may sound exceedingly serious, however, she counts the work of Man Ray as a definite influence on the protected atmosphere of creative thought, the freedom to play without judgement as work is evolving. Growing up in a musical family meant being attuned to time, whimsy, and irony. And what Martie seeks is beauty though creative exploration; what Man Ray showed her early on was serious exploration mixed the surprise that comes by letting the work direct through experimentation, abandoning judgement until the direction is clear, and refining later. Martie will talk about her work in the context of that setting - be it physical or emotional, a setting that gives inspiration and guides action. She also has experience making maps, so layering a bit of Montparnasse in the spirit of Man Ray into her talk might be on the docket. But, where is Kiki?

The Narrative Power of Place - Then and Now
by Karina Muniz-Pagan, United States

Karina Muñiz-Pagán is a writer, literary translator and organizer, born to a Scandinavian mother and Mexican father in San Francisco, California. She will explore the geohistory of Paris in the 1920s; individually and collectively experienced as artists, and seek to understand how the creative power of place influenced art and culture on a global scale. What are the stories of the artists at the intersections – artists of color, women, and queer and trans folks? As artists shaping culture, distilling life across genres, how did Paris influence them, and upon their return home, prepare them for what was to come; economic collapse, fascism and war?

How can the stories from the past shape and guide us today? From the US to South America, Europe and beyond, we are experiencing the destructive consequences of the rise in fascism and white nationalism. What is our role in 2020, 100 years later, as artists-in-action to create and disseminate our narratives across genres? Karina will develop prose and poetry, with this inquiry in mind, and learn about what local artists and cultural workers at the intersections are doing today in Paris and transnationally. She will showcase stories of resistance and resilience – finding joy and beauty in these times as well -- as we gear up for a pivotal year and decade to come.

Natalie Barney’s Last Salon
by Kelly Burke, England

Kelly Burke is a performer and writer from Denver, Colorado, currently based in London, England. She will present a teaser of her solo performance about American playwright, poet and novelist, Natalie Clifford Barney, and her Rue Jacob salon in Paris's Left Bank where she brought together writers and artists from around the world, including many leading figures of the Lost Generation. Titled “Thoughts of an Amazon”, this short play will premiere at Shakespeare's Globe in February 2020.

Art and creation in the politics of fear
by Lia Arenas, Chile

Cultural professional from Chile, Lia Arenas, will present a sensitive reflexive analysis of the current social movement in Chile, from an artistic and cultural perspective. How do art and culture develop in contexts of social mobilization and political repression? What have been the cultural policies in recent years in Chile? How do art workers live in the context of mobilization? The personal story of a woman, Chilean and art worker.

Creative Hubs in Suburban Communities
by Deanna Galati, Canada

Deanna Galati is an Arts Administrator based in Toronto, Canada, with a focus in theatre and dance. Deanna will talk about a research project to support the launch of a potential creative hub in her hometown and how she plans to connect her findings to the experience with Paris-based artists/organizations during the residency.

Engaging Multicultural Communities through International Programming
by Zsuzsi Lindsay Page, United Kingdom

Zsuzsi Lindsay Page, a Director of the Reading Fringe Festival in England, strongly believes in the power of art to unite, promote change and bring communities together. She will talk about her work in engaging multicultural communities and the importance of international element in any cultural programme.

Agile and Sustainable Organizations in Changing Times
Crystal Willie and Alexandra Hatcher, Hatlie Group

Alexandra Hatcher and Crystal Willie of Hatlie Group, a full-service consulting and cultural services firm based Canada, that works with a variety of organizations in the arts and culture sector focusing on sustainability, transition, renewal and community. As communities change and adapt to uncertainty and turmoil organizations that work in the arts, heritage and culture are finding they need a reset to achieve operational sustainability while pursuing their visions. Cultural organizations are strengthened when they focus on their relevance, providing meaning to their communities, improving their organizational health, and encouraging active contributions to community. This reset takes a process, tools, community and most importantly a willingness to change, maybe drastically, to be successful.

Color: New York - Los Angeles -Paris

Visual Lecture by Marie Thibeault, the honorary fellow for October 2018 Residency

Marie Thibeault, Los Angeles painter and Professor of Art at California State University will present her work and the work of a group of contemporary painters in which color is the prominent element used to signify form and meaning.

The lecture will discuss the connections between the compelling role of color in painting practice today, and its ties to the innovative explosion of color explorations in France during the late 19th Century and early Modernism.

WHEN: 15:00 pm, October 27, 2018 as part of the Open Studio presentations
WHERE: FIAP Paris, 30 rue Cabanis, Paris 14 (Atelier Studios & Salle Madrid, 1er étage)

About Marie Thibeault
Marie Thibeault’s large-scale oil paintings address the tension of urban landscape and the natural world. The imagery is informed the immediate experience of living near the expansive industrial Port of Los Angeles. While referencing the surrounding landscape with atmospheric color fields, the work contrasts industrial structures with organic forms to suggest the ideas of flux, change and instability in our environment.

Her work has been recently featured in exhibitions such as The Feminine Sublime at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, and Color Vision, at the Huntington Beach Art Center. Recent solo exhibitions include Illuminations at Von Fraunberg Gallery in Dusseldorf, Neon Babylon, at Elena Shchukina Gallery in London, Engineering at George Lawson Gallery in San Francisco, and Broken Symmetries, Torrance Art Museum in Torrance, CA. She has recently completed a residency at Two Coats of Paint in New York , and twice participated in the US Thai Exchange Program at Silpakorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. Her work has been reviewed in several publications, including Artilery Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Weekly, and Art in America.

Thibeault received her BFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from UC Berkeley. She is a Professor Emerita of Art at California State University Long Beach where she teaches painting and color theory.

To learn more about Marie and her work visit: www.mariethibeault.com

Address:
FIAP Jean Monnet, 30 rue Cabanis, Paris 14
M°6 Glacière ou St-Jacques
Salle Paris, 1er étage