École supérieure d'art d'Aix-en-Provence

Presentation

The École supérieure d'art d'Aix-en-Provence Félix Ciccolini (ESAAix) is a public art school, under the supervision of the ministère de la Culture, which awards the national degrees of the art curriculum: the DNA (grade licence) and the DNSEP (grade master). It bears the name of Félix Ciccolini, former mayor of Aix-en-Provence.

A modestly sized institution, it relies on individualized project supervision and a studio-based pedagogy, in which the student gradually builds a personal approach guided by artist-teachers and theorists.

Disciplines and strengths

The teaching covers the field of contemporary art: drawing, painting, volume and sculpture, photography, video, installation, performance, publishing and digital practices, complemented by courses in art history, aesthetics and languages.

The school is particularly recognized for its attention to sound creation and audio arts: it is one of the sites hosting the research laboratory Locus Sonus, dedicated to networked audio, listening and sound spaces. This research dimension gives an important place to workshops, collaborations with guest artists and experimentation.

Context

Its location in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region fosters ties with a dense cultural fabric (contemporary art institutions, festivals, regional networks of art schools), as well as international exchanges within the framework of European mobility programs.

Admission is by entrance examination (application file and interview), with the possibility of entering mid-curriculum through an equivalence committee.