Mémoire de l'avenir

Association combatting discrimination through artistic and cultural activity / Supported by the Foundation (2010)

Founded in 2003 in Paris by Israeli artist Margalit Berriet, the association La Mémoire de l’avenir sets out to bring groups of school students together around given works of art, exploring their meaning and symbols so as to gain a better understanding of difference and diversity. “In bringing out the similarities, parallels and antagonisms in the great human traditions, studying these symbols gives us a chance to learn about and discover diversity. Our approach combines education with individual and/or collective artistic creativity, culminating in a live performance,” explains the Mémoire de l’avenir website. The association works with primary, lower and higher secondary schools in education priority zones, as well as with youth centres and housing project associations in central Paris, through cultural and artistic education activities around the themes of identity, fighting discrimination and cultural openness. The workshop series involve ten to twenty participants working on different media: theatre, photography, plastic arts etc. Besides this, the association organises museum visits in Paris (European House of Photography, Museum of Modern Art, Centre Georges Pompidou, Louvre, Museum of Mankind, Institute of the Arab World, Holocaust Memorial etc.) The Foundation supported the association’s workshops between February and June 2010, when a final performance was held at the Salvation Army’s Centre du Refuge de la Cité Espoir.