Foundational Statement for LES PERSONNES RÉELLES – Communauté, Travail et Terre

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​Art as a Way of Life – Not a Commodity

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LES PERSONNES RÉELLES is not a school in the traditional sense, but a living, growing platform — where art is not made for galleries, but for gathering; not for consumption, but for connection.

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Inspired by the legacy of Poul Gernes and the spirit of the Eks-Skolen, we believe that art should not be a rarefied, individual act of genius, but a shared activity — present in everyday life, born from joy, necessity, and collective care. We reject the divide between artist and audience, between maker and community. Here, everyone becomes a contributor.

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In this space, art is not about prestige — it’s about presence. It exists in the hands that weave, plant, build, repair, and remember. It transforms the materials of daily life — wool, earth, cloth, memory — into testimonies of value and dignity.

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We affirm:

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• Art is a form of labor

• Labor is a form of knowledge

• Knowledge must be shared

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This is a school where learning happens through doing, through dialogue, through making something with and for others. Every act of creation is a way to reclaim visibility, resist erasure, and restore the worth of what is too often ignored.

We work in circles, not hierarchies. We collaborate instead of compete.

We value what is donated, what is repaired, what is remembered.
We believe that the most meaningful art is art that serves — that builds, heals, teaches, and connects.

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As Gernes wrote, the art of the common people was not leisure art — it was indispensable.

So is ours.​​