While KANAL – Centre Pompidou continues its transformation and prepares for its opening in 2024, the institution is collaborating with the association INSCRIRE to engage citizens from the surrounding neighborhoods in an open and participatory project. Françoise Schein and the INSCRIRE team propose to create a visual, urban, and artistic connection as part of the Kanal Collectif project, led by KANAL – Centre Pompidou in partnership with the Athénée Royale Toots Thielemans of Molenbeek Saint-Jean.

“Sous le même Ciel” (Under the Same Sky) is a series of murals designed in three stages over three years, in collaboration with the students of the Athénée Royale Toots Thielemans and KANAL – Centre Pompidou.

In 2021, Françoise Schein, INSCRIRE, and KANAL, along with the students of the Athénée Royal Toots Thielemans, produced a large public artwork called “Histoire de Vies” (Story of Lives), which served as the starting point for the planned journey from Molenbeek to the Kanal-Centre Pompidou museum.

In 2022, the artwork “Je rêve ma Vie” (I Dream My Life) was created, marking the second edition of this project:

“I Dream My Life” aims to move beyond the past and embrace the future by imagining life scenarios, building pride and inner strength in these teenagers, and encouraging them to envision their futures openly, realistically, and vibrantly. This involves numerous discussions, dialogues, and narrative descriptions of how to achieve their dreams.

“My name is Sultan, I am 18 years old, and I come from Syria. With my parents, we left our country to go to Lebanon, where we lived for 5 years. Then we traveled through Mauritania and continued our journey in Algeria, Tunisia, and then Morocco. We then crossed the Mediterranean on a jet ski to reach Spain, and finally, we arrived in Belgium. I sincerely hope that this will be our last host country.” Sultan is a student at the Athénée Royal Toots Thielemans in Molenbeek.

“I Dream My Life” presents ten murals capturing twenty images of hope from these young people, where they dream of the future and share their career aspirations.

These murals have been visible on the streets of Molenbeek since July 6, 2023

Françoise Schein, a visual artist and architect, professor at the Ecole Supérieure d’Arts et Médias de Caen/Cherbourg, and founder of the Association Inscrire.

With the participation of Abdelhay, Abduljaleel, Abraham, Akram, Ali Yahye, Faerouz, Farah, Francisco, Gabriela, Isabel, Khadija, Mariam, Mohamed, Nabil, Raghad, Rateb, Sorea, Sultan, Tariq, Walid, and Zikra.

Athénée Royal Toots Thielemans
Sabah Lamrani
Nisrine Moujaouil
Elodie Stas

Inscrire
Béanie Aubril
Amandine Bertholet
Emilien Borel
Ela Falkowska
Adlynn Fischer
Léa Jarrin
Céleste Maurel
Katia de Radiguès
Lohana Schein
Camille Steyaert

Kanal-Centre Pompidou
Anna Loporcaro
Constance Nguyen
Jean-Samuel N’Sengi
Mey Reinke
Koen Van Coekenberghe

Installation
Vella Concept – Salvatore Vella

Histoires de Vies s’inscrit dans le cadre du projet KANAL Collectif proposé par