On 14 and 17 June 2023, the embassy’s Higher education, research and innovation Department organised two meetings to encourage closer links between French and British art and design schools. The aim of these two online and face-to-face events, organised in collaboration with Campus Art, ANDéA, CHEAD and NAFAE, was to get to know each other better in order to boost cooperation.
On 27 June 2023, Campus France in Paris hosted a UK Day, bringing together 40 French higher education institutions and 23 British universities. Over 110 appointments were made during the afternoon of face-to-face meetings. Organised by the French Embassy in the UK with the support of Campus France, the day had the dual aim of explaining the post-Brexit cooperation framework and encouraging the development of new collaborations in a context of warming bilateral relations following the summit on 10 March 2023.
Targeted workshops were held in three fields of study, including Art and Design, with the dual objective of improving mutual understanding of training courses and highlighting good practice to encourage new cooperation.
Preparatory webinar on 14 June 2023 on the landscape of higher education in Art and Design in France and the UK
In preparation for the ’Art and Design’ workshop on UK Day at Campus France on 27 June in Paris, a webinar was organised by the French Embassy in the UK on 14 June 2023. Bringing together representatives from the Council for Higher Education in Art & Design (CHEAD), the National Association for Fine Art Education (NAFAE) on the UK side, and the Association Nationale des Écoles Supérieures d’Art et design publiques (ANdÉA) and Campus Art on the French side, this first meeting opened by Minh-Hà Pham, counsellor for science and technology, moderated by Florence Ferran, higher education and research attaché, and attended by 30 connected institutions, helped to identify the points of convergence and the specific features of higher education in France and the UK.
Initial discussions between Sandra Booth (CHEAD), Paul Haywood (Centrale Saint Martin and NAFAE), Alice Brunot (AndÉA) David-Michael Clarke (TALM and ANdÉA) and Marie Chamoreau (Campus Art) highlighted a number of points in common between the two systems on either side of the Channel:
- the diversity of schools, their status and their size, which does not make it easy to promote them internationally;
- the high level of selectivity at entry, which institutions seek to reconcile with the attractiveness of these courses and their objectives of inclusion and diversification;
- an interest in contemporary creation, critical pedagogy and the decolonisation of curricula;
- a close link with the city and region in which the schools are located;
- a focus on developing students’ soft skills (teamwork, problem-solving, agility), assets that will help them integrate more effectively into the professional world;
- ongoing reflection on the role and methods of research combined with artistic practice. Both programmes offer three-year degrees, with the possibility of continuing on to a Master’s degree, and in France, a doctorate as part of a partnership between the schools and universities or a Higher Diploma of Research in Art or Design (DSRA or DSRD), which is a postgraduate degree.
The main differences are as follows:
- tuition fees, which are much higher in the UK than in France;
- the choice of specialisation, which takes place more quickly in the UK, where the university environment into which the schools are often integrated nevertheless offers a multi-disciplinary approach (creative computing, creative writing) and flexible career paths. Conversely, whether or not they are part of generalist universities (in the UK) or groupings of institutions (in France), higher education courses in Art can prove to be leaders in terms of pedagogical innovation and the development of innovative teaching methods.
Workshop at the Campus France agency in Paris on 27 June to reconnect French and British institutions and open up new avenues for cooperation.
Fifteen representatives of French and British schools, along with Anne Duncan, Director of the British Council France, attended the focus on Art and Design schools at the Campus France agency on 27 June.
The discussion was based on the observation that relations between French and British art and design schools had become strained as a result of the Covid crisis, Brexit and, more recently, inflation and its budgetary consequences for the schools. Nonetheless, 4% of UK to France mobility is targeted at Art courses. The results of a survey of ANdÉa member institutions show both the dynamism of Franco-British relations in the field of art and design, and the potential of these exchanges, which remain less active than those between France and Germany or France and Belgium.
The discussion focused on the new strategies for forging closer ties in the context of post-Brexit bilateral cooperation, and on the opportunities for collaboration offered not only by certain European networks but also by the sites at the interface of higher education, research and creation that are developing on both sides of the Channel.
On the subject of bilateral cooperation, Marie Chamoreau (Campus Art), Alice Brunot (ANdÉA) and Sandra Booth (CHEAD) stressed the need to relaunch the dialogue on mobility, which has been affected by the new administrative, financial and legal obstacles post-Brexit. By setting themselves modest but inventive and progressive objectives, some institutions are succeeding in signing new agreements, such as the Ecole supérieure d’art de Dunkerque and Margate School recently, or the Ecole Duperré and the College of Fashion at the University of the Arts London, as part of the dynamic of the country day.
With regard to the opportunities offered by European networks, Thomas Greenough, Director of International Development at Glasgow School of Art, highlighted the ambitious example of the Master of European Design (MEdes) , in which his school and the ENSCI are partners.He also mentioned the globally connected European network ELIA, which offers a dynamic platform for the exchange and development of higher Art education between its 280 members in 52 countries, and whose next meetings will be held in Manchester from 18-20 October 2023 and in Prague in July 2024. Also discussed was the new Knowledge and Innovation Community (Kic) ’Culture and creativity’ in which the Villa Créative at the University of Avignon is participating, under the name MIN4CI, also involving Aix-Marseille Université (AMU) and the Université Nice Côte d’Azur, as well as the Creative UK agency. This new initiative from the European Institution of Innovation and Technology (EIT) aims to strengthen and transform European cooperation in the cultural and creative industries sector over the next seven years.
Finally, the workshop provided an opportunity to share experiences of the new hybrid sites being developed in France and the UK. The Villa créative project was presented by its director, Anne-Lise Rosier. Conceived as a “university and research company”, and supported by the University of Avignon and the South Region with the help of France Relance, this site of over 8,000 m2 will be inaugurated in Avignon in June 2024, and will see the establishment of Avignon University, the École des nouvelles images, the CNAM, the Avignon Festival, the Frames Web Video Festival, and the French Tech Grande Provence. Anne-Lise Rosier met Haidy Geismar, Director of UCL’s new School for the Creative and Cultural Industries in Stratford, in the East Bank, a fast-growing cultural district dedicated to creativity, innovation and higher education in East London, where the BBC and an annex of the Victoria & Albert Museum are also based. It was agreed to continue these exchanges through cross-site visits. The scientific and university cooperation attaché has been invited to Avignon by the Villa Créative on 11 July 2023 to take part in a professional day on hybridisation in the service of innovation.
For more information contact sandra@chead.ac.uk