Le French May is offering a series of educational programmes in connection with their major exhibition “School of Nice From Pop Art to Happenings”. 

Le French May is offering a series of educational programmes in connection with their major exhibition “School of Nice From Pop Art to Happenings”. The exhibition will feature the major art movements in post-war France in the 1960s–70s. Ben Vautier, who was an important member of the Fluxus movement and known mostly for his text-based paintings in white on black, will be featured as one of the highlights. Benoit Barbagli, Ben’s grandson is going to give a public lecture and two workshops during his stay in Hong Kong. AVA is glad to be the venue partner for the series of education programmes.

27 April (Fri) 5:00pm-6:30pm

Room WLB 103, Lam Woo International Conference Centre, Shaw Campus, Hong Kong Baptist University, 34 Renfrew Road, Kowloon Tong

Since the 1960’s, Ben has been mixing life and art to create performances through street actions such as “Look at me, it’s enough” or “I sign the horizon”. One of the immediate consequences of his performances is to erase the distance between art and life, up to the point of proclaiming they are one and the same.

These gestures are continued and amplified within the Fluxus movement which he joins in 1962 and notably through Fluxus concerts. And Ben has remained an influential figure of contemporary art performance to this day.

Benoit proposes to rediscover through examples of historical performances (Street Actions, Fluxus concerts), the erasure of the boundaries between art and life initiated by Ben in the 1960’s. Thus, proposing to the participating students to produce their own performances, either in the spirit of those presented in the talk or in a clear break with them. There will be performances engaging the body that would find an echo in Robert Filliou’s expression, often quoted by Ben that “Art is what makes life more interesting than art”.

Registration

Conducted in English. Free admission. Registration needed.

28 April (Sat) 2pm-5pm

No.10, Cattle Depot Artist Village, 63 Ma Tau Kok Road, Ma Tau Kok

Benoit is inviting students to participate in a workshop where he will present some historic performances. Students will be provided with an opportunity to contribute to a collaborative artwork, which will be completed by the end of the workshop.

Registration: Please send an email to education@frenchmay.com with your name, university & department, contact number.

Conducted in English. Admission: Free admission. Registration needed.

28 April (Sat) 10am – 11am

28 April (Sat) 11:30am – 12:30nn

No.10, Cattle Depot Artist Village, 63 Ma Tau Kok Road, Ma Tau Kok

Ben’s handwriting plays an important role in his performance. Ben’s grandson, Benoit Barbagli, will apply this signature art element to the children workshops. Playing between words and pronunciations of different languages, Benoit Barbagli will guide children in a way how Ben think and create.

Target: Children aged from 4-12.

Registration

Conducted in English (with simultaneous Cantonese interpretation). Free admission. Registration needed.

 

For more information about the exhibition, you are welcome to visit:  https://frenchmay.com/en/events/school-of-nice-from-pop-art-to-happenings/