What do we have to do?

GROUP WORK (each pupil in the class does part of the work):

1. Take good quality photos of the public sculptures and statues of Riom (be careful of traffic!).
2. Situate them on a map.
3. List them from "our class favourite" to "our least favourite".
4. List them from oldest to most recent.
5. Categorise them by type: religious, republican, commemorative, patriotic, propaganda, etc. (a work can belong to more than one category).

The GROUP WORK above has to be finished by the end of February 2015. 

The PAIR WORK below has to be completed by June 2015.


PAIR WORK:

1. Carry out research (using the local archives and the resources of the local museums) on your favourite Riom public sculpture or statue: material, style, sculptor, subject, history of the sculpture, purpose, importance at the time, cost, historical and social context at the time it was erected, how it is perceived today (its value), etc.
2. Situate your chosen public sculpture or statue on a map showing Riom as it was at the time your chosen work was erected (don't forget that it might have been moved!). To decorate your map, you can add pictures showing the town during that era.
3. Interview people about your chosen public sculpture or statue to find out what they know about it and to gain their opinion on it.
4. Imagine a three-minute monologue by your chosen statue (you can make it into a podcast)!
5. Imagine, describe, explain and draw a new public sculpture or statue that you would like to have erected in Riom (explain your choice of location).

What is the purpose of this project?

Riom has an extraordinary number and variety of public sculptures and statues. By studying them, we will gain an insight into the different periods of the town's expansion.

This History/Geography/Civics/Art History/Arts project will be completed by June 2015.

This project is part of our "seconde section europénne" course on "Cities and sustainable development".

Some of the questions we will be seeking answers to during our project are:

• Where, when, by whom and for whom was a particular public sculpture or statue erected?
• What is the sculpture or statue “about” (patriotic or civic pride, loyalty to the King or the Republic, republican values, tribute to a great man or woman, commemoration of a war, religious devotion, etc.)?
• What does it tell us about the values and socio-cultural practices of the time?
• How is it perceived today?