Supporting art and young artists
In 2023 Pernod Ricard embarked on a new relationship to further its support of emerging creative talents. Our partnership with the renowned École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris builds on our long history of supporting creativity and young artists in France.
New partnership, new approach
This year marks an evolution in our long-standing practice of featuring artists in our Annual Report. Where past reports have focused on photography, this time we’ve turned to illustration to showcase our brands, places and people, through a new partnership with École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
A place of intellectual, creative and artistic endeavours for more than 250 years, the school’s vocation is to train future artists and designers to be the creators of contemporary decor and the “transformers” of the world of tomorrow.
The illustrative work of three recent graduates from the school has brought a vibrant and fresh creativity to this year’s publication. All the artists studied in the Printed Image department and were panel-selected on the strengths of their portfolios. In the spring and summer of 2023, each undertook a two-month residency in one of our markets - China, Scotland and the United States - where they had the opportunity to observe our people and our operations at close quarters. The subjects they chose to illustrate have opened up new and exciting perspectives on the world of Pernod Ricard, and are published here for all to appreciate.
As you will see, each of the artists has a different illustrative style. The diploma project of Louise Laborie (whose residency was in the USA) was a 134-page comic book, while Clément Clausse (residency in Scotland) focuses on observational drawing and the importance of texture. The work of Miyuka Schipper (residency in China) is based on live drawing in the tradition of Sempé and Hockney.
Sixty images. Sixty signs of our time created simultaneously on three continents.
"This is what three recent graduates from the École des Arts Décoratifs have contributed to this Annual Report. If our mission as a school is clear - not to train students to fit into the world but rather to reveal it to us - then we must give them the means to explore and question it. After a worldwide travel hiatus, these travelling residencies, which were developed in partnership with Pernod Ricard over two and a half months, are a promise to our young graduates, a promise to once again be able to investigate, record and visually translate the cultural and social phenomena at work in our contemporary societies. These three residencies, from the Far West to the Far East, never let the sun set on their shared vision throughout this project.
Choosing an artistic medium to illustrate this year’s Annual Report was by no means accidental. More than 250 years following the creation of the École des Arts Décoratifs as a free art school, the time has come to breathe new life into the narrative power of drawing, which has been overshadowed by years of celebrating contemporary art. Illustration was the obvious choice given the challenge of bringing the dynamics of globalised togetherness to life. This light, agile and liberated artistic medium, so adept at capturing wandering thoughts, fleeting moments and showcasing the technical virtuosity of colour, enabled the three selected artists, all graduates of the École’s Printed Image department, to trace the contours of these universes that are both familiar and distinct.
Clément Clausse in Scotland, Louise Laborie in the United States and Miyuka Schipfer in China have used their unique talents to capture architecture, topography, social and professional interactions, know-how, faces and products in the heart of three very different countries. Each and every one of us here strives to be a seismograph of our community of values, and always passionately committed to the world and its myriad cultural and human dimensions."
