Blog BNP Paribas | The bank for a changing world

Wonderful moment of Artists-in-Residence 2011

Joyce Leung — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:31:49 +0000

Artists-in-Residence 2011-2013 is a multi-disciplinary arts education programme which aims at enhancing the appreciation of performing arts among secondary school students in Hong Kong. Supported by BNP Paribas and the BNP Paribas Foundation, and organised by HK Arts Festival, the Project brings top professional artists into secondary schools to develop the creativity of students through interactive arts training.

Birmingham Royal Ballet from UK and Cie 111 from France are the residence artists for the programmes in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Participating schools include: Elegantia College, Fung Kai Liu Man Shek Tong Secondary School and TWGHs Li Ka Shing College.

For the 2011 Project, more than 60 students joined a fun-filled casting and 38 of them participated in workshops hosted by Birmingham Royal Ballet as well as two local artists. Beside the school showcase in Dec 2010, they also presented their public show in Feb 2011 at the foyer of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

The short piece they performed was based on Birmingham Royal Ballet’s signature piece, “Hobson’s Choice”. It is an uplifting ballet which tells a love story between a humble shoe maker and his boss’ daughter. The show was well-received by a large enthusiastic audience.

BlogTV: Valgiros – a Place for Rebuilding

Isabelle Palsky — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:20:20 +0000

The “Aux captifs, la liberation” association, founded in 1980, works to get to know and orient people who live or who come from the streets.
With the aim of responding to the needs of these people, specific structures have been developed:

•   A reception centre
•   The Dauphine Lazare housing facility for young people
•   The Health on the Streets centre
•   A housing and stabilization centre

How does the Valgiros centre work? Who is it there for? Who is behind this initiative?

Its goal: to give people living on the streets the time and space they need to gain strength and rebuild themselves, and to develop a new sense of autonomy, all by living together with other socially-reintegrated people or volunteers.

The “Aux captifs, la liberation” association has been supported by the Coup de pouce programme of the BNP Paribas Foundation.

An exhibition space for the works of Tom Flick

Isabelle Palsky — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:32:17 +0000

From 20 January to 27 February, the recently inaugurated Europe branch of BGL BNP Paribas in Luxembourg is hosting an exhibition by sculptor Tom Flick.

Already a talented artist, Luxembourg native Tom Flick perfected his skills in sculpture during his studies at the Fine Arts Faculty of the Lycée Technique des Arts et Métiers.

The artist subsequently exhibited his works in both individual and collective shows in Austrian cities including Vienna and Innsbruck and then moved further afield with exhibitions in countries such as Germany and Italy… His works are generally sculpted in alabaster and represent nudes or non-conventional forms.

The artist is now unveiling his works in the branch’s “Culture and Partnership” area, a dedicated space that hosts artistic and cultural exhibitions throughout the year.

An exhibition not to be missed!

A professional training session for all..

Marta Fernandez Mur — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:48:14 +0000

For the third year in a row, BNP Paribas handed over its facilities in Madrid to the San Patricio Foundation in order to carry out the training course “Take Care of Me”.

Last week, 22 people attended a session of this programme, whose main objective is to train immigrants and people over 45 years who need a job and want to become caregivers. Through these sessions, attendees reinforce their social integration and awareness on how important their educational work is.

The goal of the Spanish San Patricio Foundation is that of planning and promoting courses, congresses, conferences and seminars that can provide an educational, cultural, artistic, scientific, ethical and social training to professionals and future professionals in the area of education and culture.

“A smile for Christmas 2011″ hits record

Marta Fernandez Mur — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:56:48 +0000

“A smile for Christmas”, the campaign that BNP Paribas Spain holds with the collaboration of International Cooperation NGO and Cáritas, had a great success this year among employees.

Although it has been taking place for eight years in a row, the success of this initiative continues to be evident: 200 gifts and 1.400 euros were collected this year. The money was used to buy more presents. All of them were given to children with families in need, who live in the neighborhood of Entrevías (a disadvantaged area in Madrid).

On Wednesday 4th of January there was also a picnic with the children and their families, in which kids could deliver their letters to the Three Wise Men. Seven BNP Paribas employees attended the meeting and made it more enjoyable singing Christmas Carols with their guitars.

In addition, BNP Paribas Spain donated 5 computers to the parish of Santa Eulalia of Merida, located in Entrevías,that will be used to help young people to find a job.

The French Film Festival 2012 in Australia is approaching

Lizette Rivera — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:28:48 +0000

This year’s Festival will be full of emotion, passion and surprises. Celebrating its 23rd edition, the French Film Festival will run this year from 6 March to 9 April in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth.

For over 5 weeks, the Festival line up of 2012 will reveal 45 films of action, romance, comedy, thrillers, children’s films, animation and documentaries from the very best of French contemporary cinema – which have been commercially released in France the previous year. The festival will also include several Australian Premières and a prestigious International Première.

With more than 130,000 attendees last year, the Alliance Française French Film Festival has become one of the most important film events in Australia and the largest festival of French cinema in the world, outside of France.

For more information about the full programme, screening schedule, special events, and cinema locations…

Receive up-to-the-minute updates via the Facebook and Twitter page.

Advance tickets will be on sale from Wednesday 1 February 2012, along with the Alliance Française French Film Festival official website launch at: www.affrenchfilmfestival.org

BlogTV: Planting Seeds of Growth for Women

Isabelle Palsky — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:26:56 +0000

The Semailles association is part of the Réseau Cocagne, a network comprising more than 100 gardens throughout France.

Semailles works around 3 areas:

•   Integration through horticulture
•   Integration through floriculture
•   Environmental and Sustainable Development Education

The association, based on the same principles used for market gardening, created in 2008 “Fleurs de Cocagne”, an innovative project whose purpose is : to produce flowers that are “natural, local and cooperative”, to prepare flower bouquets and to distribute them to a network of members.

In this way, Fleurs de Cocagne supports the social and professional integration of women, who, during the length of their contract with the association, get to build a new professional future.

The Semailles association has benefited from Projet Banlieues, a program of the BNP Paribas Foundation.

David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture

Emma Oliver — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:43:02 +0000

From 21 January to 9 April 2012, the Royal Academy of Arts will showcase, in partnership with BNP Paribas,the first major exhibition of new landscape works by David Hockney RA. Featuring vivid paintings inspired by the East Yorkshire countryside, these large-scale works have been created especially for the galleries at the Royal Academy of Arts and will be shown alongside related drawings and film. The exhibition will also reveal how Hockney has embraced new technology, including his early use of the Polaroid camera, his innovative use of the colour photocopier, and more recently his iPhone and iPad.

About David Hockney

Born in Bradford, England, David Hockney became famous in the early 1960s and one of the leaders of the pop art movement in the United Kingdom.

After emigrating to the United States in 1964, Hockney was known for his “swimming pool” paintings, then for his elaborate stage sets during the ’70s and for his photo collages during the ’80s. His easel paintings made during the 1980s show the influence that Matisse and Picasso exerted over his art.

In the last decade, Hockney has returned to painting in the open air, observing with honesty and intensity the scenery remembered from school holidays spent in East Yorkshire. He is now widely recognised as Britain’s greatest living artist.

About the Exhibition

Created especially for the exhibition, vivid, large-scale paintings inspired by the Yorkshire countryside will be displayed next to drawings by the celebrated English painter. Alongside a selection of works spanning more than fifty years, these new pieces will shed new light on Hockney’s fascination with landscapes.

The exhibition will also present a number of his works painted from the Fifties onwards. These include the photo-collages of the Eighties and Grand Canyon paintings of the late Nineties, which put the Yorkshire works in context and highlight the striking relationship between past works and his current thinking and practice.

The exhibition will include a display of his iPad drawings and a series of new films produced using 18 cameras, which will be displayed on multiple screens and which will provide a spellbinding visual journey through the eyes of David Hockney.

Designed by the curators Marco Livingstone and Édith Devaney, the exhibition “David Hockney: A Bigger Picture” was organised by the Royal Academy of Arts in London, in collaboration with the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Ludwig Museum in Cologne.

For more information about this event

Providing guidance and business know-how to students

Emma Oliver — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:23:57 +0000

For the second consecutive year, BNP Paribas and its Community and Charity Programme,
will support Rise Up, a pilot programme designed to help students at risk of dropping out of the education system.

Rise Up is a project developed by the Westminster Education Business Partnership (EBP). EBP helps bring business employers and schools together so as to inspire young people and promote educational achievement through volunteering programmes that support schools in the local area. BNP Paribas has been part of this partnership for several years now.

This year, several employees at BNP Paribas will volunteer to work as mentors or ‘business coaches’ for five students aged 14 to 16 years. The goal is to help them develop their communication skills and to obtain a BTEC Level 2 Media Production qualification.

The role of ‘business coach’ will imply for BNP Paribas employees to impart the skills gained through their working life. This task will involve showing students how to:

•   plan and organise tasks
•   write a delivery plan
•   generate ideas
•   solve problems
•   set targets
•   work to tight deadlines

And, besides motivating and guiding young people through this role, the program also aims to help employees to develop coaching skills that can be useful for their own professional lives.

To accomplish this project, all participating employees will be asked to meet once a week for a total of 8 weeks, starting on 1st February 2012.