COAL STUDENT PRIZE 2024: THE WINNER

Created in 2019 by the Fondation Culture & Diversité and the COAL association, the aim of the COAL Student Prize is to support students from schools in the arts and culture field, across all disciplines, who are experimenting with and proposing concrete, creative solutions for the ecological transition.

For the fifth year running, the COAL Student Prize is partnering France’s Nature Reserves through a program of residencies.

Discover the COAL Prize 2024 winners.

ANTOINE BEHAGHEL, WINNER OF THE COAL STUDENT PRIZE 2024, FOR THE PROJECT DEVENIR PHOTOSYNTHÉTIQUE

Antoine Behaghel wishes to create a series of tableaux vivants depicting the invisible respiration of photosynthetic marine species. The aim is to “biomimic” this biological phenomenon operated by algae, unicellular microphytes and phytoplankton, using the illusions inherent in stagecraft. These scenic representations will be nourished by a survey of the site of a Nature Reserve located on the Brittany coast, using nomadic capture tools (digital capture, photography, 3D scan, microscope…).

What if we could simply breathe in reverse to combat the greenhouse effect and its climatic consequences? What if we could breathe in carbon and breathe out oxygen, as plants covered in chlorophyll do under the effect of the sun? The process of photosynthesis, found in the plant kingdom, feeds our fantasies of transformation, and today gives rise to all manner of utopian solutions and prospects in the field of geo-engineering. While these attempts at artificial atmospheric regulation could indeed transform our carbon footprint, they don’t seem to fuel the dream of beneficial, shared interdependence between humans and non-humans.

Becoming Photosynthetic invites us to move beyond the technological fantasy of photosynthesis by restoring its spectacular, magical dimension. Antoine Behaghel will be investigating a coastal nature reserve in Brittany, a region with a complex relationship with algae, between historic economic resource and environmental disaster (green algae). His objective is to observe all types of photosynthetic marine vegetation, using specially-adapted recording tools and the support of scientists, and then to reintroduce them into the scenographic context as set or costume elements, activating them through theatrical narration.

Antoine Behaghel (France)
Born in 1998 in Saint-Herblain (44). He lives and works in Paris.
@antoine_behaghel

Born in 1998 in Saint-Herblain (44), Antoine Behaghel is a 2024 graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. In his design practice, he explores the narrative, performative and speculative potential of the object. By combining digital mediums with artisanal practices, he composes narrative universes that weave a link between the real and the virtual. In 2020, he founded his own studio called BehaghelFoiny, in collaboration with Alexis Foiny. There, the duo develops a transdisciplinary design practice, between high-end furniture manufacturing and space planning. The duo collaborates with several cultural institutions, such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris (FR); and is represented by several international galleries, such as Galerie Philia (US) and Adorno Design (DK).

DOTATION

Winner of the COAL Student Prize is awarded a two-month residency in one of France’s 350 nature reserves, with a cash prize of 5,000 euros. Throughout the residency, the winner will be supported by the nature reserve’s educational and scientific teams in implementing his/her project.

PARTNERS

The Réserves Naturelles de France (RNF) association is the umbrella organization for a national network of more than 700 nature protection professionals, working daily in the territories where some 350 nature reserves exist. Their actions are based on three missions: the knowledge of the natural biological and geological heritage, its management and protection, the sensitization and the discovery by the citizens of these spaces of nature, life, meetings and creation. As an ambassador for nature reserves, RNF is the voice of nature, actively mobilizing all of society’s stakeholders, particularly in the field of culture.