The “Tree of Knowledge” made with 150 people of the city Les Mureaux, France

How did 150 people became active citizens in the construction of a major city cultural infrastructure?

This work was conceived and produced by F Schein with the participation of 150 inhabitants. It was imagined by the artist to offer to the Mureaux’s population an opportunity to appropriate themselves images of cultural works (historical, botanical, zoological, artistic,..) through the borrowing, manipulation and transformations of these images. In participating with the artist in the construction of this monumental “Tree”, the artist and the city offered the people the possibility of creating a collection of new singular images reflecting their own personal interests.
The “Tree” has become a large section of the façade of the new city cultural center and informs the people of its content through the chosen thematic.

A team of different specialists and an innovative methodology were specially created to give the population an easy access to the artist studio and the possibility for each participant to make and insert their own productions into the general scheme.

We thank the Mairie des Mureaux to have given us and the Inhabitants the opportunity to have produced such a great project combined with a profound human experience

Françoise Schein is the artist an conceptor of the project

Nada Moucataff is the urban and achitect mediator
Jean Guevel is the social mediator

Annabelle Botte is the artist's assistant-architect

Jean Oh is local artist who produced people's portraits

Omar Camara is a local artist who was an artistic assisant.

The work is about 180 m2. It is made out of pale green tiles painted in black. Generated by the artist interest in cartography imagery, the graphic scheme is based on an inverted city map forming a tree shape. Inside each “leave” or each bubble, participants were invited to paint their new images and quotes therefore affirming or questioning their approach to sciences, discoveries, traditions, botany, mythologies, history, politics, etc… People from 7 to 83 years old participate to the project. They were from various religions, races and social classes. From this experience, spontaneous collaborations were born, between people who normally would never have met during their normal daily life. People left their anonymous status to become active citizen in the construction of a major city cultural infrastructure.