Innovation, entrepreneurship, solidarity: Campus Jean Arnault continues its momentum

On 2 February 2023, Brigitte Macron, President of the Institut des Vocations pour l’Emploi (LIVE), Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH and Bruno de Pampelonne, Chairman of the EDHEC Board of Directors, met at the Campus Jean Arnault in Roubaix for the opening of an exhibition by artist Hicham Berrada. The themes of the Campus, which was inaugurated in July 2021 by the same partners, are innovation and entrepreneurship. It brings together under one roof – the former headquarters of the construction company founded by Bernard Arnault’s grandfather in 1921 – students, entrepreneurs and adults who are working together to build a new professional project. 

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The event gave all participants the chance to discover the works of Hicham Berrada, an artist in residence at Le Fresnoy, a place for training and artistic production in Tourcoing. Hicham Berrada, who now exhibits his work all over the world, draws inspiration from both science and poetry. His exhibition at the Campus Jean Arnault, which is called Landscapes, is made up of a dozen experimental works for which he uses scientific protocols to produce “scale models of living organisms”. This new exhibition follows a previous partnership in 2021 based on the works of Hideyuki Ishibashi, whose Atlas exhibition immersed audiences in the history of Parc Barbieux and its century-old trees.

The day also gave Bernard Arnault and Brigitte Macron an opportunity to talk to entrepreneurs who had had a period of “incubation” on the Campus, such as the founders of Abracadabra, a start-up specialising in the collection and upcycling of lingerie, and the teams at Symbiosis, who design 3D NFTs of vehicles for metaverses. 

Bernard Arnault and Brigitte Macron also chatted with thirty or so LIVERS from the 3rd class to graduate from the Roubaix Campus. The LIVERS shared their experience and how LIVE supported them as they worked out their new and motivating business plans. It was a wonderful experience in a venue that offers plenty of opportunities to practice and learn from experience!