Improbable Chair by Galeries Lafayette Art Thinking

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The Improbable Chair by Galeries Lafayette is all about bringing together artists and entrepreneurs, linking art with business in a new way.

It supports creative practices by connecting artists with entrepreneurs, businesses with cultural institutions, and artistic creation with business strategy. It encourages everyone to embrace the "improbable" to think like creators. Through a unique method called "Art Thinking," developed at ESCP, the Galeries Lafayette group and ESCP offer a way to support, encourage, and spread the act of creation.

 

Guillaume Houzé, Brand and Communications Director, Galeries Lafayette

A few words from
Guillaume Houzé
Brand and Communications Director, Galeries Lafayette group

“The Improbable Chair is all about bringing together artists and entrepreneurs, linking art with business in a new way. It supports creative practices by connecting artists with entrepreneurs, businesses with cultural institutions, and artistic creation with business strategy. It encourages everyone to embrace the ‘improbable’ to think like creators. Through a unique method called ‘Art Thinking’, developed at ESCP, the Galeries Lafayette group and ESCP offer a way to support, encourage, and spread the act of creation.”

Guillaume Houzé, Brand and Communications Director, Galeries Lafayette group Photo Credit: ©Lucasziwel

Sylvain Bureau, Scientific Director

A few words from
Sylvain Bureau
Professor at ESCP Business School
Scientific Director of the Improbable Chair

“Our initial belief was simple: to make creation accessible to as many people as possible. To achieve this, we developed a method called Art Thinking, which characterises how artists, entrepreneurs, and scientists go through similar steps in the creative process, such as gift-giving, deviating, destroying and drifting. For 15 years, our Art-Thinking seminars have trained thousands of students, entrepreneurs, managers, and researchers across a dozen countries and twenty universities and schools. Partnering with Galeries Lafayette group, a company with a strong entrepreneurial DNA, our chair combines theory and practice to amplify this approach and promote creators and creation in the broadest sense.”

Professor Sylvain Bureau, Scientific Director of the Improbable Chair

Objectives

The Chair has two major complementary goals:

  • Support scientific research to better understand creative practices
  • Teach the Art Thinking method and spread the Improbable pedagogy worldwide

Art Thinking not only helps participants unleash their innate creative potential; it also promotes collaboration, listening, leadership, negotiation, and constructive dialogue. Participants learn to question themselves, leverage failure, establish partnerships, and develop an agile approach to uncertainty.

Three areas of activity

Research and development

  • Scientific publications
  • Doctoral theses and final dissertations
  • Improbable Siesta: seminar bringing together researchers, artists, and experts in creation
Teaching

  • Spreading the Improbable method at ESCP and beyond
  • Designing initial training in Art Thinking
  • Training Art Thinking instructors
Events

  • Conferences and workshops on Art Thinking
  • Exhibitions and Improbable openings
  • Improbable residencies (art­ist/sci­en­tist/­en­tre­pre­neur triads)

“This Chair is the story of an encounter between visionary creators who understood early on how future generations of students and entrepreneurs would need artistic and creative practices to prepare for the world of tomorrow. Through this collaboration, ESCP is grateful to the Galeries Lafayette group for opening up new playgrounds for unprecedented and improbable creations!”

Pascale Pernet, Director of chairs and corporate sponsorship
ppernet@escp.eu

Focus on...

Group photo at the inauguration of the Improbable chair

Article

When Art meets Entrepreneurship

On Tuesday, 19th March 2024, Léon Laulusa, Dean and Executive President of ESCP, Jean-Stéphane Arcis, President of the ESCP Foundation, Philippe Houzé, Chairman of the Management Board of the Galeries Lafayette group, and Guillaume Houzé, Brand and Communications Director, Galeries Lafayette group, signed the first Chair dedicated to artistic and entrepreneurial creation.

Display :
13042 publications

Published Case Study

2017

HOLM, M. E., R. P. AMDAM, J. -P. LEMAIRE

Yara's International Challenges: In search of critical size and structure

2017, CCMP, Paris, France

Paper presented in a Conference

2017

LEE, H. -H. M.

You Are All Competent, But Can You be Nice? Leveraging Social Media for Leadership Communication

in 2017 Summer AMA Conference, 2017, San Francisco, United States

Paper presented in a Conference

2017

LEE, H. -H. M.

You Are All Competent, Now Tell Me More: Exploring the Effects of CEO Leveraging Social Media

in 47th EMAC Annual Conference, 2017, Groningen, Netherlands

Journal Article

2017

ZANNAD, H., G. GALINDO

« Diplôme et carrière : un lien indéfectible ? Le cas d'une grande entreprise de télécommunication »

REVUE MANAGEMENT ET AVENIR, 2017, vol. n°92, pp. 198

Chapter

2017

RIVIERE, Y.

« L’exil des sages et des mages. Un empire sans philosophes ? (Ier siècle ap. J.­C.) »,

in Philosophari - Usages romains des savoirs grecs sous la République et sous l’Empire., Pierre Vesperini Ed., Kaïnon - Anthropologie de la pensée ancienne, pp. 265-352, 2017

Studies and Reports commissioned by Companies and Research Agencies

2017

PINOT DE VILLECHENON, F.

“La internacionalización de las PYMEs latinoamericanas y su proyección en Europa”.

2017

Journal Article

2017

BEN SLIMANE, S.

“Le système national d’innovation dans les pays du Maghreb: entre failles structurelles, besoin de coordination et de gouvernance appropriées

INNOVATIONS - REVUE D'ECONOMIE ET DE MANAGEMENT DE L'INNOVATION/JOURNAL OF INNOVATION ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT, 2017, vol. N°53 (2), pp. 105-127

Guest Speaker in a Research Seminar

2017

PINOT DE VILLECHENON, F.

“Visión europea de la región Latinoamericana”

Perspectivas del macroentorno. 2017, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Guest Speaker in a Conference

2016

PINOT DE VILLECHENON, F.

"Comment aborder les pays émergents ? Exemple de l'Amérique latine"

2016, La Fabrique de l'Export, Paris, France

Chapter

2016

LE MANH, A., P. DELVAILLE, C. MAILLET

"Enjeux et limites de l'application des normes IFRS aux PME

in La comptabilité en action., Alain Burlaud et Arnaud Thauvron Ed., L'Harmattan, 2016