Drawing on its successful experience in the field of higher education, which has been recognised by the Chinese government, KEDGE has been asked by CAFA, the Beijing School of Fine Arts, one of the most renowned art schools in the world, to create a new Franco-Chinese Institute (IFC) in the innovative field of Art and Design Management. The primary objective of this institute is to train Chinese art students in the management of a rapidly expanding Chinese cultural market. In the long term, the ambition is to make this IFC a unique HUB combining teaching, research and cross-cutting projects to develop cooperation between France/Europe and China/Asia.
© Architecte : Architecture-Studio / photo : Zhang Yiming
A Sino-French Institute of Arts and Design Management, in partnership with the China Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA)
After signing a cooperation agreement on 29 January 2015, in the presence of the French and Chinese Prime Ministers, KEDGE and CAFA officially opened the IFC in October 2020 on the new Pudong campus in Shanghai, specifically built for this training. This year, the IFC welcomes 150 Chinese students from CAFA (300 as of next year) for a 5-year programme (first 2 years in China, 3rd year in France, 4th year in China and optional 5th year in France) with the possibility of a double Chinese and French Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree in Management (Programme Grande Ecole) and an MSC in Arts and Creative Industries Management.
The expertise of KEDGE's "Creative Industries and Culture" research centre at the heart of the IFC arts and design programme
KEDGE's Creative Industries and Culture research centre aims to produce and disseminate knowledge on the management of the arts, culture and creative industries.
The field includes the visual arts, heritage, performing arts, cultural industries, design, taste industries such as fashion or luxury, entertainment and leisure industries including creative tourism, creation and creativity in general. The team includes 15 permanent professors and 10 researchers and associate professors.
As part of an institutionalist trend, the research centre is interested in the social inclusion of actors in production processes and markets, the nature of creative and cultural goods and the conditions of their production, and the specific behaviour of creative and cultural organisations in order to better assist them in their management.
The centre conducts research for many partners: Europe, the Ministry of Culture and Communication, regions, cities, cultural institutions and companies. The research centre's work is published in academic and professional journals.
Thanks to this expertise, KEDGE can offer an innovative programme, unique in the world, for the Franco-Chinese Institute of Art and Design Management, by delivering all the management courses applied to the field, and by cooperating with CAFA on its own expertise (art history, art theory, applied arts and design) and in partnership with prestigious French cultural and creative organisations.
In total, for the French part, in the Bachelor and Master in Management delivered by KEDGE, 37 professors will deliver 52 courses concerning visual arts management, heritage, museums, cultural industries, design and creativity in general.
The Creative Industries and Culture research centre will involve many French artistic and cultural institutions, including the Musée National des Arts Asiatiques GUIMET, while CAFA will involve the Chinese art and design world. This strong professional immersion of the students will complete the curriculum to meet the central objective of the programme to train future managers of art, design and culture in China.
In addition, a comparative research programme on Franco-Chinese art and design management will be launched to make the Franco-Chinese Institute a platform for the production of specialised knowledge in the field.
