Skills Academy 2021: “Glass”

2020
2021
Skills Academy 2021: “Glass”, 2020 © Tadzio / Fondation d’entreprise Hermès
Skills Academy 2021: glass, masterclass, 2021 © Tadzio / Fondation d'entreprise Hermès
Skills Academy 2021: glass, masterclass, 2021 © Tadzio / Fondation d'entreprise Hermès
Skills Academy 2021: glass, masterclass, 2021 © Tadzio / Fondation d'entreprise Hermès
Skills Academy 2021: glass, masterclass, 2021 © Tadzio / Fondation d'entreprise Hermès
Through the Skills Academy, the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès continues its material-based exploration of craft skills and innovative thinking. From January to November 2021, the fifth edition of the programme was dedicated to a transparent material at once strong and fragile: glass.

Every two years since 2014, the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès has invited craftspeople, designers and engineers to take part in the Skills Academy. With a strong emphasis on collective intelligence, this programme – emblematic of the Foundation’s commitments – aims to undertake broad explorations of universal materials by bringing together prospective visions and the transmission of skills.

An adept of glass, designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance was the pedagogical director of the fifth edition of the Skills Academy. By selecting this transdisciplinary theme, the Foundation sought to approach the arts of glassmaking in all their richness and complexity. The Academy looked to (re)discover and explore the historical, symbolic and aesthetic resonance of glass, as well as its chemical and physical properties and its economic and social dimensions.

To this end, the Foundation devised an ad hoc programme that enabled participants to enrich their knowledge through monthly talks bringing together leading specialists. Across a series of seven morning sessions, artists, curators, academics, manufacturers, designers, architects and craftspeople were invited to exchange their points of view, their experiences and their technical and historical expertise around glassmaking. The first five sessions took place online and were open to all, via a broadcast on the Foundation’s YouTube channel. A film screening and guided visits of sites in Paris were also offered to the public, extending this transversal approach to the material.

In parallel, a series of masterclasses reserved for the Academy participants allowed these professionals to discover sites specialising in glass production, preservation and research. Finally, they were invited to put into practice the skills acquired through these encounters and explore prospective avenues in a collective workshop led by the Academy director, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, at the International Glass and Visual Arts Research Centre (CIRVA) in Marseille. Here, the participants worked with industrial glass from bottles as part of a craft-based approach to recycling infused with the context of the port city.

The results of this workshop will be exhibited at the site where the research took place, as part of the Art-o-rama contemporary art fair. From 25 to 27 August 2022, the public will be able to discover the Academy participants’ five experimental approaches to transforming industrial glass, incorporating echoes of Marseille’s history, traditions and emblematic local references. This workshop showcase forms part of the International Year of Glass declared by the United Nations.

Disciplines
Design
France
The fifth edition of the programme will be dedicated to a transparent material at once strong and fragile.
An adept of glass, designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance was the pedagogical director of the fifth edition of the Skills Academy.
This programme – emblematic of the Foundation’s commitments – aims to undertake broad explorations of universal materials by bringing together prospective visions and the transmission of skills.

Information

  • Events' programme

    SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2021
    THE BASICS
    Lecture online on YouTube

    SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2021
    GLASS: ARTISANSHIP, ART AND INDUSTRY
    Lecture online on YouTube

    SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2021
    LIGHT AND TRANSPARENCY I
    Lecture online on YouTube

    SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2021
    LIGHT AND TRANSPARENCY II – CLEARER AND CLEARER?
    Lecture online on YouTube

    SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021
    LOOK FURTHER, SEE FAR, WATCH CLOSELY
    Lecture online on YouTube

    SATURDAY, MAY 29, 2021
    A POINT OF VIEW…
    Lecture online on YouTube

    SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 2021
    GLASS IN TOMORROW’S WORLD
    Lecture online on YouTube

    FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2021
    DOCUMENTARY NIGHT
    Cinema Le Studio 28 
    10, rue Tholozé - 75018 Paris 

    Discover the full programme of the Skills Academy

  • Exhibition "Le Verre" at the Cirva

    Exhibition of the workshop "Le Verre" from August 25 to 27, 2022, at Cirva, Marseille.

    Research carried out during the workshop of the Skills Academy dedicated to glass under the pedagogical director of Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance.

    Free entrance from 10:30 am to 6 pm 

    Cirva (The International Glass and Visual Arts Research Centre)

    62, rue de la Joliette

    13002 Marseille (France)

    Round table in free access around the Skills Academy "Le Verre" on August 26, 2022 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm in the Art-o-rama exhibition with : 

    • Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, pedagogical director the fifth edition of the Skills Academy
    • Nicolas Verschaeve, designer and Academy participant
    • Marion Flament, designer and Academy participant
    • Alice Lebourg, craftspeople and Academy participant
    • Frédéric Armandon, engineers and Academy participant

       

    Friche la Belle de Mai

    41, rue Jobin

    13003 Marseille (France)

See also