with disabilities, they carry out an artistic project

From January 14 to 26, 2025, passing in front of the Hall of the Galliéni Tower in Melun (Seine-et-Marne), passers-by will have the pleasure of discover a unique exhibition carried out by the trainees vocational training of Vocational Rehabilitation and Training Center (COS CRPF). These trainees, who are following “Assistant Secretary” and “Administrative and Reception Employee” training, are all in disability situation.

An aesthetic technique!

“At first I was like, ‘I don’t know where we’re going, but we’re going to go.’ But I didn’t think we would get to this end. », exclaims Safaa Darkaoui, intern at COS, amazed by the result of the exhibition.

The exhibition, entitled “I dream in cyanotype”, is the result of a partnership with Act’Art, the cultural agency of the Department of Seine-et-Marne. It presents transparent cyan blue posters installed on the windows of the hall, each associated with a poem accessible via a QR code.

The project took place over four weeks on the sites of Melun and Nanteau-sur-Lunain, under the direction of two professional artists, Lolita Bourdet, photographer and visual artist, and Sandrine Lanno, director. The interns were involved in all stages of creation.

“We had workshops, we learned to know each other, to pay attention to ourselves,” the intern continues.

The final work combines two artistic practices, poetic writing and visual creation. A work on the theme of dreams, exposing wishes, reveries and desires through photocopies processed in cyanotype, an old monochrome photographic process which gives a blue tint.

Safaa Darkaoui then continues: “We created, it’s a source of pride, we were able to express our emotions, we didn’t know what to say other than our suffering at that moment. We were all broken and trying to get through it. »

Feeling valued

The experience proved particularly enriching for these interns. It allowed them to create and express their emotions, particularly their difficulties and suffering. A particularly appreciated aspect of the project was the absence of judgment in the way others looked at it.

“Here, there is no pity, that’s what’s great, they don’t look at us with pity. And people will not look at the works with pity,” she adds.

An initiative which is part of the cultural policy of the COS CRPF, which for 15 years has been developing artistic and cultural partnerships. Art becomes a universal means of expression where disability is erased, trainees simply become artists.

“Through art, we are like everyone else, there is no disability, we are artists. It revalued us. », concludes Safaa.

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