On March 28th, Caroline MARTIN-RILHAC, General Delegate of the Fondation Rémy Cointreau, attended the “Prix Avenir Métiers d’Art”. Organised by the Institut pour les Savoir-Faire Français, the ceremony took place in the Louvre Museum auditorium. Hosted by Sylvie Adigard, the event featured speeches by Kim Pham, General Administrator of the Etablissement Public du Musée du Louvre, and Anne-Sophie Duroyon-Chavanne, Director General of the Institut.
The prize
Initiated in 2002 by the Institut pour les Savoir-Faire Français, the “Prix Avenir Métiers d’Art” is a unique way of revealing and celebrating young talent in the arts and crafts. It honors excellence in traditional techniques, ingenuity in the exploitation of materials, and creative audacity.
Fondation Rémy Cointreau is proud to support this award for several years, encouraging training, development, and innovation by drawing inspiration from traditional know-how to shape the future.
This year’s ceremony honored 10 national laureates. Caroline MARTIN-RILHAC, a jury member at level 4, had the honour of presenting the awards to three promising young craftsmen: Lancelot Brondy and Dorian Kérivel, talented cabinetmakers, and Gabriel de Sevin-Bandeville, a passionate bookbinder.
“As a jury member for several years, I can personally attest to the exceptional creativity and maturity you demonstrate. You are a source of inspiration, able to bring a contemporary perspective to traditional craftsmanship. Congratulations to the entire Institute team for celebrating these young talents through this award, and for your contribution to the constant evolution and renewal of this ecosystem, thus preserving French excellence.” – Caroline MARTIN-RILHAC
The 2025 Edition
Applications for the 2025 edition of the “Prix Avenir Métiers d’Art” are now open! If you are under 26 and in full-time initial training or apprenticeship in an art craft (levels CAP to DNMADE), you can participate until June 15, 2025.
For more information, visit the website of the Institut pour les Savoir-Faire Français!
Fondation Rémy Cointreau pour la Transmission is delighted to announce its support for the Grands Ateliers de France in staging the Bel Ouvrage exhibition.
The aim of the Grands Ateliers de France is to preserve traditional French arts and crafts and to perpetuate their heritage. The association is committed to promote the excellence and authenticity of these crafts and to ensure that they can be passed on to future generations, while supporting their development in the face of modern challenges. Les Grands Ateliers de France brings together around fifty craftsmen and workshops, including Maîtres d’Art and Meilleurs Ouvriers de France.
Bel Ouvrage, the key event of the 30th anniversary of the Grands Ateliers de France, takes place from 28 August to 8 September 2024 at the Orangerie du Sénat. Designed as a true celebration of French know-how, the exhibition, curated by Carole de Bona, will take the public on a journey to the heart of arts and crafts.
Through forty unique pieces, representing the diversity and richness of the crafts, Bel Ouvrageexpresses itself between tradition and modernity. Among the thirty artisans taking part in the exhibition, the Foundation is proud to be counting among them two of its laureates: Steven Leprizé and Pierre Salagnac.
From fine furniture to decorative objects, discover these works reflecting quality and authenticity of French craftsmanship. A charity auction of the works, coordinated by auctioneer François Epin, will be held in aid of the Fondation des Femmes to extend the impact of the exhibition.
Through this support, the Foundation is reinforcing its commitment to the transmission of craftsmanship, a true heritage for today and tomorrow.
Through a hundred of creations produced by thirty-three Masters of Art or their students, Sous le soleil des Savoir-Faire reveals the diversity and excellence of know-how, from featherwork and porcelain to fine embroidery and cabinetmaking.
Discover a wide selection of unique pieces, including a sceptre with embroidered flowers, a felt coat in homage to Paul Poiret, and plans of Facteur Cheval’s Ideal Palace transcribed in stained glass. Each piece embodies an exceptional heritage of French arts and crafts from Louis XIV to nowadays. Among them you will find the work of some Foundation laureates, including Ateliers Loire, François Simon-Fustier, Annie Bocel, Liza Bergara and Sylvie Deschamps…
Versailles’ history is inseparable from the art of craftsmanship, making it a unique location for this event. It illustrates the passion of these Master of Art and their students, guardians of a precious know-how passing down from generation to generation…
But what about tomorrow? While some methods, gestures and tools have barely evolved since their creation, today’s craftsmen are using new technologies to push back the limits of materials.
By supporting this exhibition, the Fondation Rémy Cointreau is renewing, today and tomorrow, its commitment to the preservation of our heritage and the transmission of arts and crafts.
Fondation Rémy Cointreau support initiatives of general interest to pass on invaluable savoir-faire and expertise. Today, the Foundation highlights the Saint-Eloi School, a partner who works every day to train the future young talent of tomorrow!
This production school offers young people from 15 to 18 unique training to obtain a NVQ, specialising in the Art of Jewellery.
Saint Eloi school is mainly aimed for young people who have difficulty with the traditional education system, which is often inappropriate for their practical intelligence. The school also focuses on diversity: students are selected for their motivation only and their desire to learn an artistic craft. The school’s teaching method, inspired by the innovative ‘Faire pour Apprendre’ (make to learn) model, focuses on the practical side of learning. Students learn through professional contact, which is essential as some skills can only be acquired through practice. Far from the pressure of grades, students work together on real projects.
Entirely free of charge thanks to the support of benefactors and generous donors, Saint-Eloi offers boarding to all students. The boarding school is a real educational asset, encouraging mobility and developing independence. It also contributes to the development of young students and helps them to increase their self-esteem. Fondation Rémy Cointreau also provides crucial support to help families for boarding.
“The Foundation wants to bring some light to this culture of gesture, to show its scope, mastery, technique, excellence and precision, and above all to showcase the remarkable initiative of the Saint Eloi school”. Caroline MARTIN-RILHAC, Delegate General of the Fondation Rémy Cointreau.
This documentary takes a behind-the-scenes look at Saint-Eloi school and its educational project, as rigorous as it is caring. You’ll see the importance of passing on know-how, the commitment of all those involved and how young people develop within this unique family.
The Foundation supports La Source Garouste Association and its new program called “Métiers d’art et de la main”. These art and craft workshops focus on the discovery of know-how’s gestures and techniques, involved to transform materials.
La Source Garouste Association
La Source is a non-profit organization, founded in 1991 by Gérard Garouste, Elizabeth Garouste, and Olivier Kaeppelin. It fights against all forms of exclusion among young people through art spectrum. Their support consists in social and educational initiatives based on artistic practice, to help students to grow, learn, and gain self-knowledge. Over thirty years, they have supported more than 93,000 children aged between 8 and 21.
“Métiers d’art et de la main” Workshops
The association’s ambition is going further with the establishment of crafts workshops known as “Métiers d’art et de la main.” Often overlooked, this promising sector brings together almost 150,000 people in France and represents 281 savoir-faire.
The aim of these workshops is to promote the skills transmission, the importance of raw materials, and respect for the gestures and the techniques. The programs are taught by passionate professional craftsmen in collaboration with socio-cultural educators.
It takes place 20 hours a week during school holidays, along with visits to the association’s partners such as museums, workshops, manufactures, etc. Each pupil works on a project from conception to completion, learning to work with the materials and tools required for each skill. At the end, the works are exhibited to their parents, highlighting everyone’s achievements. These workshops provide an opportunity for teenagers to discover craftsmanship and offer them prospects for the future, while raising their awareness of environmental issues by working with raw materials.
Fondation Rémy Cointreau X La Source
With the desire to transmit know-how and skills, the Foundation is promoting this project and encouraging all craftsmen who want to share their savoir-faire through these workshops.
This collaboration is not new in fact the Foundation has also supported the association in their art projects for young people, with the aim of reaching more children across France, and making artistic practice a significant part of tomorrow citizens’ education.
Additional information
Create an artistic project based on your skills and send your application to Artegalore (artistic advisor to La Source): contact@artegalore.com
Welcome the students to your workshop for a visit.
The association will cover the cost of materials needed for the workshop, up to a budget of 300 euros.
Duration of the course: 20 hours
Compensation: €50/hour, totaling €1,000 net, plus a flat-rate allowance for transport.
These workshops are available in the following French regions: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bretagne, Île-de-France, Normandie, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Pays de la Loire, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
On February 10th, the Prizes Savoir-faire en transmissiontook place at Hôtel de Ville de Paris. Set up by the Bureau du Design de la Mode et des Métiers d’Art (BDMMA) this program provides real support to craftswomen and craftsmen, and offers concrete answers to the crafts sector’s challenges, particularly around workshop apprenticeship and students entry into the professional world.
Prizes Savoir-faire en transmission
This program was created to facilitate and encourage apprenticeship in workshops. Indeed, for one year, trainees work with fine craft professionals to perfect their gestures, their techniques, and their trade. This apprenticeship is a two-way street and sometimes more. Indeed, the students learn from their master and vice versa, but they also interact with other trainees they meet between the beginning and the end of their experience.
The notion of learning
Apprenticeship in the craft sector is undergoing major changes and the Prizes Savoir-faire en transmission compensate for a lack of workshop life in schools. Moreover, they respond to the loss of certain training courses. For example, Hervé Obligi, a lapidary sculptor and a Master of Art is one of the last holders of hard stone marquetry and glyptic know-how. For him, as for Emmanuel Carlier, archer, and Mathilde Jonquière, mosaicist, there is no more training dedicated to their know-how.
The entry into the professional world
After the apprenticeship comes the entry into the professional world. Difficult for everyone, the Prizes Savoir-faire en transmission is a key to enter the fabulous craft sector. Thus, the students take part of the community that supports each other around a common point: the protection of the craft. Living in a society that tends to computerize, everyone fights here for the intelligence of the hand.
Fondation Rémy Cointreau has been supporting these awards for five years and is continuing its commitment today! Indeed, these prizes share the values of transmission that represent the thread of its actions. Caroline Martin-Rilhac, General Delegate of the Foundation, is a stakeholder in this partnership as she has been a member of the jury since 2018 and of the Board of Directors of the Bureau du Design, de la Mode et des Métiers d’Art.
The Rémy Cointreau group, already an active philanthropist, decided to go further by launching its corporate foundation in 2017: Fondation Rémy Cointreau. The group committed to “Terroir, people and time” wished to act for the preservation and the future of cultural and human expression. Fondation Rémy Cointreau provides financial, technical or human support to projects on all continents, with priority given to our terroir. It has also defined four areas of commitment to the general interest, including the promotion of exceptional know-how, transmission, and skill-based sponsorship. The latter has just been launched among the group’s employees, but the message is not only intended for them.
Skill-based sponsorship
The spotlight is on skill-based sponsorship. It is about giving the opportunity to employees of a company to get involve 2 days per year in an association, during a short-term mission (1 to 2 days/employee).
The purpose of this project is to encourage commitment within a company.
The Vendredi platform
This platform is a link between associations and companies. Each association with a particular need can propose one or several missions on the platform. And each company employee can thus have access to these missions and then can offer their help easily.
It is with Vendredi that Fondation Rémy Cointreau and the eponymous group have decided to get involved.
The Fondation Rémy Cointreau and skill-based sponsorship
Associations specialized in arts and crafts are not much represented on the platform, although it offers many answers to the problems they may encounter. Indeed, you, associations, by joining the community, you will be able to propose missions related to your needs: communication, legal and fiscal, digital etc. These missions will be visible to the entire community of Vendredi.
We invite all associations in the craft sector to register on Vendredi platform, in order to make your needs known to a community of committed actors or those who wish to get involved. Click here to get started!
The Grands Prix de la Création de la Ville de Paris
Those prizes have been assigning since 2003 according to three categories: design, fashion, and fine crafts. For each category, two prizes are awarded: the Grand Prix and the Prix Talent émergent.
The Grand Prix awards a professional, a brand or a firm, for its professional, innovative, and creative approach. They must have a professional experience but also a transmission value. The Prix Talent emergent is an encouragement of a professional with an ambitious and a promising project.
Edition 2022
This year, in the fashion category, one of the prizes will be awarded for an accessory designer. It is a new initiative that comes from ADC, Au-Delà du Cuir, and the Federation of Prêt à Porter Féminin.
In order to participate to this edition, the call for applications is open until the 15th of May, midnight! Several criterias are necessary. You can find them on the official website of BDMMA.
The application is, in the first place, investigated by the members of the jury according to the three categories. Then, the finalists must defend their project in front of experts. The latter will have the last word about the laureates.
Fondation Rémy Cointreau and the Grands Prix de la Création
Benefactor for several years of the Grands Prix de la Création de la Ville de Paris, Fondation Rémy Cointreau supports this new edition in the fine crafts category. Caroline Martin-Rilhac, delegate general of the foundation is also a member of the jury.
Talents et Violon’celles is an association with the will to protect, to conserve, to put in highlights and to enhance the musical and the cultural heritage of the French Academy for string quartet instrument. Created in 2010, it acts as an instrument funds. The instruments are shared or donated by donors for young talents who cannot afford one on their owns. This fund counts fifty instruments including fourty-two shared instruments. Since the beginning, the association has helped more than sixty musicians with talent, and has created the Talents et Violon’celles house since april 2021, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. A lot of projects are organized by the association and, among them, the international competition of lute-making.
The expertise and the excellence, the fundamental notion of transmission and the patrimony and the cultural dimension, are all values supported by the association and by Fondation Rémy Cointreau.
International competition of lute-making
François-Xavier Anscutter and Raphaël Pidoux, co-founders, president, and vice-president of the association, has been interviewed on Radio Classique by Laure Mézan, the 24th November 2021. During this interview, they have talked about the Talents et Violon’celles adventure, its engagement, and its ambitions. Among its new projects, the International competition of lute-making will take place in January 2022. This initiative is unique!
The first edition is dedicated to cello and shares transmission values. In fact, it awards talents of today and talents of tomorrow with two prices: prix Talents d’aujourd’hui (Today talents price) for a confirmed lute-making, and prix Talents de demain (Tomorrow talents price) for a lute-making student. The objective of this competition is about encouraging the value of transmission of a know-how by gathering all the generation of lute-making. It is also about supporting the talents of tomorrow in order to help them going further in their know-how and their techniques. The last objective is about the promotion of lute-making and this speciality being accessible to everyone.
Finally, this competition is in partnership with Philharmonie de Paris – Musée de la musique and takes place at the same time than Biennale of string quartet instrument. It will take place from 19th to 23rd January 2022, at the Philharmonie of Paris.
The association of Les Ateliers des Maîtres d’Art et leurs Élèves (AMAE)
Created in 2002, the association of Les Ateliers des Maîtres d’Art et leurs Élèves (AMAE), in English, the Workshops of Art Masters and their Students, is working within the same approach than the french official title of Art Mastersand Students. It has the objective to guarantee the transmission and the durability of exceptional know-how.
It works with different actors of their sector such as institutions and associations, in order to promote the excellence and the creativity of Masters of Art and their students. Accordingly, AMAE helps them to develop their workshop, to organise and to participate to Fairs and exhibitions in order to put them in highlight.
Furthermore, since 2009, a solidarity found has been created to give craftsmen in need a hand.
Finally, the association is particularly invested in its sector because it participates to committees of reflexion about the future of fine crafts, and also because it works in collaboration with French Ministries such as the Ministry of the Culture.
Fondation Rémy Cointreau supports AMAE in its program of development of Art Masters and their students profession.
The documentary of AMAE
In its program of valorisation of exceptional know-how, the association has launched a documentary of six episodes, called “De la matière à l’oeuvre: Maîtres d’Art à Élèves”, in English, “From the material to the art piece : Art Masters to Students”. This show guides the spectator to the aesthetic and the sensory universe of a know-how, but also guides him deep into the realisation of a craftsman’ savoir-faire.
The first episode is dedicated to Valérie Colas des Francs, specialised in straw marquetry. She received a training from the Art Master Lison de Caunes. She opened her workshop in 2014 in Nemours in France. You will see in this episode her connection with straw, and the way she works to create art pieces with this material.
