Since 2024, the Institut Pasteur and the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs (ENSAD) have been working together within a unique educational partnership organized by Claire Pujol and Nicolas Dray, with the participation of ANR PasteurEduc. Read on to find out more about this partnership at the intersection of science and artistic creation.
 
École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs 

The École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs (ENSAD), founded in 1766, is one of France's most prestigious art and design schools. It is a public institution under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture and a member of Université PSL, and each year it provides training for creators in ten specialist areas: interior design, spatial art, animated films, graphic design, object design, textile and material design, clothing design, printed images, photo and video, and scenography.

Learn more about ENSAD's projects: @ecoleartsdecoparis  @designgraphique_ecoleartsdeco
 
The partnership 

Three classes of second-year graphic design students, supervised by their lecturers Jean-François Fourmond and Christian Rondet, both photographers, spoke to scientists at the Institut Pasteur to find a source of artistic inspiration.
 
On the Institut Pasteur side, scientists Claire Pujol, who specializes in mitochondrial dysfunction in neurogenetic diseases, and Nicolas Dray, who studies neural stem cells, organized laboratory tours and meetings between students and scientists. 
 
This year, they were accompanied by members of the Yersinia Unit: Christian Demeure, Guillem Mas Fiol and Josue Barquero-Chavarria. Roxane Simeone then presented her research on tuberculosis, and Malika Serra Hassoun and Timothée Bruel shared their work on malaria and COVID-19. The day provided the students with an immersive laboratory experience – depending on the needs of each specific project, they took notes and photos, recorded sounds, explored scientific image archives and spoke to scientists. The resulting artworks reflect just how much the students gained from the experience. 
 
In 2024, some students chose to portray the fascination and frustration generated by laboratory equipment. Others compiled an inventory of small details – a hand, hair, a tool – to reveal the unexpected poetry of scientific work. Still others immersed photographic films in a variety of liquids, mimicking the neuron culture protocols studied in Claire Pujol's laboratory, or offered a reinterpretation of the codes of microscopic imagery. Finally, some played with scales and pareidolia, turning images of ticks or mosquitoes into abstract landscapes, while others engaged in a dialog with Nicolas Dray based on scientific vocabulary and used this to create huge images with four-color ink. The students were supported by Stéphane Frémont, Elisabeth Labruyère, Nassim Mahtal, Adeline Mallet, Esthel Pénard, Lesly Raulin, Christine Schmitt and Thomas Treport.
 

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"Art and science are two separate but complementary practices, which together can give us a better understanding and appreciation of the world."
Nicolas Dray, CNRS scientist in the Zebrafish Neurogenetics Unit, Institut Pasteur
 

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"When Chuck Norris looks at a painting, it immediately becomes a masterpiece."
Claire Pujol, CNRS research associate in the Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Institut Pasteur
 
 

Final exhibition 

At the end of each project, all the scientists are invited to ENSAD for an exhibition presenting the students' work. This is a wonderful opportunity for scientists and artists to meet and explore how bringing the two disciplines together can advance both scientific reflection and artistic creation. 

• 2023

The 2023 projects, which were exhibited in early 2024, mainly focused on minimalist photography. 

See the projects

Participants: Margaux Criado, Kateryna Demianenko, Nina Dieutre-Jovovic, Defne Elver, Jeanne Gaillard, Meryl Holder, Alaïa Janot, Patricia Mejasson-Rivero, Margerie Moussa, Kiliz Roques, Pauline Rouze, Marion Venot et Camille Vernhes-Chazeau.

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• 2024

The projects produced in the second semester of 2024 opened up to photography and graphic design. 
Participants : Diego Alvarez, Adrienne Caye, Emma Crave, Marina Dauriac, Kateryna Demianenko, Elisa Devay, Yasemin Erten, Cecile Flesselles, Aika Fuchida, Maelle Gillet, Julia Krawczyk, Milena Mnatsakanian, Ana Rocha et Lea Terki.

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• 2025

Finally, the 2025 projects explored a variety of different media, including photography, video, printing and design.
Participants: Maren Appel, Capobianco Chiara, Akram Chikhi, Julia Hent, Titem Isker, Marko Jecmenica, Krivickas Motiejus, Angelika Papademetri, Ahloe Roumanie et Wei-Jhu Tseng.

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Interview with Ana Rocha, a student at ENSAD  Image Ana took part in this art/science exchange during the 2024-2025 academic year. She is currently working as an intern at the Pasteur Museum from March to September 2026, and she took some time out to speak to us about this experience, which fundamentally changed her view of science and her own creative process.   How did you find your first visit to the Institut Pasteur? My first visit to the Institut Pasteur was a memorable experience. It began with a presentation in the auditorium of the Duclaux building, then we visited the laboratory run by Claire Pujol and her team. We were then taken to other laboratories, including some with large electron microscopes. The visit introduced me to a world that I knew nothing about. We lead such different lives! Scientists are always working with living cells, which require constant maintenance and monitoring. Their work is also driven by the urgent need for new scientific discoveries. My favorite part of the day was seeing the large microscopes. It was fascinating – for example we learned that they need to be installed on a special rigid platform to avoid any vibrations and obtain precise microscopic images. The visit made me particularly admire the scientists' meticulous, patient approach to their work. I realized just what a painstaking process it is, very different from what I am used to.   Did you have a project idea in mind before the visit? No, I didn't know anything about the program in advance. I didn't even think we would be able to access the laboratories. So it was amazing to be able to visit the labs, talk to the scientists directly, and even take as many photos as we wanted! It was only after the tour that I chose the HIV laboratory, because I wanted to work on a scientific project that also had an impact on society. I also wanted to explore a slightly marginal topic, homosexuality.   Which scientists did you work with? How did the partnership go? My thematic group on HIV worked with Stéphane Frémont. He couldn't take us to the laboratory where cell separation is performed, so he explained the process to us using slides, and we were able to ask him any questions. Visually, we saw some "artistic" aspects of his work that he had never seen from that angle before, even though he sees those sorts of images every day. We had a really insightful discussion with him. We met him twice at the Institut Pasteur, then we stayed in contact by email.   What did you take away from the project? It was both amusing and fascinating to see the scientists rediscover their own laboratory images in completely different forms. As we were all graphic design students, most of our pieces were printed, but we also produced sculptures, projections, printing on glass, booklets showing how scientific images can become works of art, collages, and photos with the colors changed. It was also an opportunity for us to explain our approach as graphic artists, and there was a real mutual curiosity – we asked the scientists lots of questions about their work, and they asked questions about ours. It was incredibly rewarding, and I would love to take part in a similar project in future.

The partnership shows how two disciplines often presented as polar opposites – one based on rigor and the other on freedom of creation – actually have a lot to offer each other. The scientists gain a new perspective on their own work, while the students find a source of inspiration and creation. The Institut Pasteur has always embraced openness, and this project shows how science can also be presented through different media and languages.