Astrid Palmarini, president of the Art Zone in 2020-2021, looks back on her experience at the Art Zone, the cultural association of Grenoble School of Management, between passion and professionalization.
What is your relationship to art?
Art has always accompanied me. I was made aware of it in different ways. On the one hand, thanks to my parents, who brought me to the museum very regularly. I come from a family that really loves art; my father in particular passed on his love of cinema to me. On the other hand, I was made aware of it in school, from a very young age, through drawing and reading at school, then through outings to the theater and old cinemas.
In primary school, we went to the La Pagode cinema, located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, which showed cinema classics like Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin and Let’s sing in the rain by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly. Today, this cinema is closed; but a reopening project is underway.
I also practiced dance, more particularly modern jazz. I then turned to what I like best: reading, theater, cinema, and music. I think that France is a country where children’s awareness of art and culture is important, particularly thanks to its cultural institutions. It’s a chance. For example, I have been able to discover many films in recent years thanks to the Cinémathèque de Grenoble as American Night by François Truffaut, Journey to the end of hell by Michael Cimino, The Last Emperor by Bernardo Bertolucci and The Cheetah by Luchino Visconti.
Why did you want to join the Art Zone?
Generally speaking, I have a strong interest in art. After completing two years of preparatory class, it was interesting for me to maintain the relationship with art that I had been able to develop in my philosophy classes.
In addition, in parallel with my studies, I worked in a live performance production company, but only part-time. When I left preparatory class, I wanted to invest myself in what I liked. The Art Zone thus emerged as a logical and imperative choice.
What is your background within the Art Zone?
In the first year, I made an internal duplicate: editor Voiceover (the Frames review journal) and actress in classical theater at Art’Scenik. Theater and cinema being my two greatest passions, these are the poles that I was aiming for.
Why did you want to become president of this association?
Although I didn’t really dare to admit it to myself at first (was I legitimate?), I liked to the Art Zone and I wanted to take more responsibility. I wanted to participate in the management of its teams, to discover what the other divisions were doing and how their teams worked and to have an overall vision of the association. I not only wanted a position of responsibility, but I also wanted to build a professional project in the cultural industries. The presidency was therefore the best opportunity for me.
I thus learned how the cultural industries work and how to work on a very large scale. Being president requires rigor and a lot of patience. This requires me to understand what people expect from us and how to help them.
Under what sign did you want to carry out your mandate?
Many members of the Art Zone are enthusiasts. The question was how best to help them create and develop their projects. It’s also a student association, so I wanted to discuss new projects and how to coordinate them. For me, it was about fostering a spirit of cooperation and collaboration to enable the development of members through the development of projects that are close to their hearts. A challenge has also arisen due to the health crisis: how to mobilize people in new formats and what will they be?
What are the challenges you had to face?
The main challenge was that of the pandemic and especially its consequences. In fact, the Art Zone usually organizes at least half of its events in bars. The closure of the latter, added to that of cinemas, museums, performance halls and concert halls, represented a real obstacle for the association. This had a big impact on team morale. We had to support each other to keep moving forward. I talked a lot with the respos and respoles.
In a normal period, our main challenge would have been that of CSR, because events are a polluting sector. This is also what we also wanted to emphasize by developing and adopting a new CSR charter last February.
What is your best memory linked to the Art Zone?
At the start of the second year, we organized and produced the filming of the Art Zone association film produced by the Planètes association. This shoot was long, it was hot and there were many shots to film. So this day was busy. But, in the evening, we organized a drink for the first year students at the Tonneau de Diogenes. There was a very good atmosphere and quality music because members of the Nymphony Records division mixed. We had a great evening. Many first year students arrived and all poles were represented.
This evening was an opportunity for the second year students to get together and explain what they were doing at the Art Zone. We had a great time with many people who wanted to join the association. We almost had the impression of returning to “the world before”!
What did this experience bring/taught you?
I loved my year and my mandate because I learned a lot from it. This experience allowed me to develop certain knowledge relating to the functioning of cultural industries, the people whose job it is and the actors with whom they work. I was able to observe very different cultural industries and diverse actors. This required me to demonstrate adaptability, reactivity and rigor.
From a personal point of view, my biggest weakness is impatience. This experience taught me patience and that sometimes you have to let things and people go at their own pace and adapt. This is the most important skill I have acquired.
A message for future members?
There is only one association and it is the Art Zone!
This is the association they need if they are interested in art in one way or another. Without forgetting that the association has several facets, it allows you to practice and promote your passion for an art, as well as to professionalize yourself in the cultural industries.
If you are curious and if you want to learn and meet different and passionate personalities, the Art Zone is made for you!
Comments collected and written by Chloé Rocher, editor of the Bureau de la Zone Art
