Invited as an Artist in Residence by the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve during the 2016-2017 academic year, Françoise  Schein and association Inscrire have designed a participative workshop addressed to all students and inhabitants of the city. 

During the year, and taking place in one of the old studios of the site La Baraque, a ceramic workshop was offered weekly to the students who were asked to paint into porcelain plates of all sizes. They had to choose one thematic, referring to their studies and its link to Human Rights.
The common ground of the project was the color blue and the circular shape.  Students from different departments came and enjoyed this unique way of expressing themselves. They became the best ambassadors of the project, inviting the local inhabitants to participate.
A wide variety of subjects have been covered, creating an amazing and unexpected collection of blue plates. 

While the artwork looks like a traditional collection of Chinese plates, the 200 pieces were offered as a “dot from the students” to the University. The dot-collection remains permanently exhibited on a large wall at the Louvain House, the prestigious restaurant of the University. 

Jean Leclerq, a philosophy professor, promoter of the project and director of the Presses Universitaires de Louvain, published a book “ À TABLE CITOYENS ! ” in which he asked university  professors to write a text about one students’ plate of their choice, reversing the classic hierarchy of the teacher-student relationship. 

Two exhibitions and events were organized around the project.

Laurence Van Nieuwenhoven, artist ans ceramist
Camille Steyaert, artist ans ceramist
Jean Paul Verleyen, architect
Jean Leclercq, philosopher
Frédéric Blondeau, communication of LLN

Université de Louvain La Neuve

Jean Leclerc
Françoise Schein