INTER-GENERATIONAL ADVENTURES

2019/2020 St Francis University in France and l’Association Generations Mouvement d’Ambialet, France

This project was developed between the students of St Francis University visiting their college in France, and the French residents of a small hamlet in South West France and Tiffany Black, whilst on sabbatical. The students were on a learning abroad programme, and many were undertaking classes in art, culture, language and identity.  The students were mostly entry level French language speakers and new to travel in Europe.  The French residents were mostly retired and part of a weekly group that met to share cultural and leisure activities together.  To locate a common theme and given that most of the students came from rural backgrounds and the project was going to take place in  rural France, everyone watched Au Nom de La Terre / In the name of the land (Edouard Bergeon, 2019), followed by a translated discussion of the issues facing farms and farming in both the US and France. This was followed by creative workshops with the intention of increasing understanding of each other’s lives and culture, both historic and contemporary.  By using the sharing of photographs; Instagram and black & white period photographs, by learning dances; line dancing and traditional ‘fete’ French dances and undertaking shared portrait and print classes the students and residents found new ways to communicate and share their backgrounds and lives.  This inter-generational project was sadly cut short due to Covid and the students returning to the US, however, it was acknowledged that it had indeed enabled both young and old to better gain insights into each other’s lives and removed some of the hesitancy and anxiety surrounding potential language and cultural barriers that both groups had expressed at the outset.

Location: The Art Studio, St Francis University in France, Ambialet, France
Date: 2019/20
Funding: St Francis University in France