They make the École Supérieure d’Art et de Design (ÉSAD) of today and tomorrow.

This is the place for the commitment, the initiative and the creative power of the students of ÉSAD.

“Today, a group of volunteer students has taken the initiative to create this “Semaine Forte”. This week of workshops, managed and self-managed by the students, will imagine, build, produce and gather around projects made only with recycled materials found in the school’s recycling library, La Casote. The aim of this week of workshops is to reappropriate the walls of our school, to improve our working conditions, to design tools and to renew the links between students who have been so weakened by Covid 19. We therefore invite the public to attend the presentation of this Semaine Forte on Thursday 16 February, between 3pm and 6pm. We wish to show the people of Rémois and the inhabitants of the agglomeration the asset that a school of art and design represents for a territory. We need you and your communication tools to share and disseminate our issues, and give us the chance to show what we are capable of! We look forward to seeing you in large numbers and welcome you with pleasure.”
— Léo, Agathe, Louna, Ninon, Lola, Jordi, Anne et Garance

Instagram @semaineforte.esad

Public Presentation
Thursday 16 February 2023
3pm-6pm

14 worpkshops

• Workshop #1: “Check it out”
  Find a visual and structural way of inhabiting existing shop windows. In the form of a schedule, a modular structure, a theme or signage? You are free to do so! Find a practical and creative way to communicate and promote our know-how to passers-by. Your project could be applied to other shop windows in Reims and could travel around.

  Workshop #2: “Smile, Smoke and Sun”
  Smokers know it well, sunbathers too, this space must be worthy of the creativity of our school! The two benches have aged… so why not improve the picnic tables? The aim of this workshop is to propose structures that will allow students to eat outside on nice days, to smoke quietly when it rains, to chat while doing crossword puzzles and above all to be able to meet and enjoy our beautiful courtyard! Don’t forget Franchet, build furniture for our 1st year students and artists too!

  Workshop #3: “Put the bike under cover”
  The space proposed to you is the space available when leaving the Champagne room. Have fun rearranging this place to make it more comfortable and welcoming, the two concrete benches have had their day… Make us dream! In parallel, a bicycle shelter is needed above the disabled access to protect your beautiful bicycles. It is important to take care of it! You are free to create a structure that will be grafted onto the current railings, perhaps in the manner of covered bridges… Give us shelter!

  Workshop #4: “Paint me like one of your French girls”
  No more white walls and posters of pots falling down the stairs. It’s time to take over these spaces and turn them into walls of expression. We offer you delimited zones in all the staircases to make your best frescos. This will refresh the school from floor to ceiling (that’s an expression, of course we don’t paint the floors).

  Workshop #5: “The workshop that doesn’t lose its way”
  You are on the… ground floor. You are asked to find an efficient way for us and our visitors to find our way around the two sites of our school, Cathédrale and Franchet. This workshop invites you to reinvent the ÉSAD signage in any way you like. Create an appropriate graphic ensemble, specific to our school, while taking into account the main objective of signage: to inform, orient and guide. Have fun and guide us!

  Workshop #6: “O speakers”
  With this workshop, we suggest that you integrate a voice-over into our school: jingles, bells, small announcements, jokes every quarter of an hour… You are free to find a way to set up loudspeakers in our two sites, Cathédrale and Franchet, to link them to the sound of a single voice, that of the school. What do you think?

  Workshop #7: “Extrude me”
  We propose to experiment with ceramics around the principle of extrusion. The idea of this workshop is to create different tools to generate shapes. Starting from the object that is the extruder to create small series, having fun around volume and the different possible combinations. The tools created will be used by all those who are curious. Think solid, think durable. Have fun with the material.

• Workshop #8: “Don’t get wrinkled”
  In an effort to add new tools to our school, we thought it would be cool to be able to recycle our paper scraps. Why not think about a paper machine? A press? And other useful tools for reusing these materials?
  Bonus: Make us some nice sorting bins on each floor to recycle as much as possible!

  Workshop #9: “DIY”
  Need new tools? Think new ones! Think about what makes you want to do it, feel free to suggest what makes you happy. Why not have a recognisable wall of tools in self-service? Surprise yourself, surprise us.

  Workshop #10: “The next generation”
  In this workshop, we propose to reappropriate all the archives that the school has, from its creation in 1748 to our Semaine Forte (photos, videos, projects…). Discover and tell the story of the school, the changes it has undergone, the students and teachers who have brought it to life, and question its future.

  Workshop #11: “Sing the ESAD!”
  In this workshop, it will be a question of physically reappropriating the school, of carrying the values of this Semaine Forte and of recounting the problems that ÉSAD may encounter. Maybe communicate them outside the school using the medium of performance!

  Workshop #12: “We’re going to give you a party”
  Make ESAD a party. And to have a good party, you need:

  • a fold-out bar,
  • ripe lights,
  • crisp decorations

  And for seasoning: a spicy atmosphere. There’s nothing better than ending the week with a drink, in a bar, surrounded by friends… Why not imagine a folding and unfolding decor?

  Workshop #13: “My everything will be white as snow”
  We lack a gathering place, but the commons still need to be white for exhibitions and renderings. How can we link the two in the same space? Propose a space layout, an installation, furniture that allows us to meet and exhibit at the same time. Everything must remain white and easily movable. The common space must be optimised so that it can continue to be a place for renderings or exhibitions. Why not think of modules that can be adapted and multiplied according to needs?

  Workshop #14: “Leave the gun, take the cannelloni”
  During this workshop we suggest you take a seat in the kitchen. We all know that food brings people together, especially at ÉSAD, so let’s take advantage of this week to get together and enjoy some good food. Cooks, we are counting on you to give rhythm to this Semaine Forte.