Hello, I'm Sylvie Girardet, founder of the Musée en Herbe.

The Musée en Herbe was set up about forty years ago by myself and two friends. We were art history students and we had discovered everything that art could bring but that, ultimately, very few people went into museums, or dared to walk through the doors of galleries. So, we had the idea to create a museum for children, children being future adults, where they would feel good, independent and which, afterwards, would perhaps give them the habit and the reflex of walking through the doors of these museums and galleries and of looking around them at all the artful things you can see in a town, as well, or in the countryside.

For me, art is completely essential in the role of educating a child, because education for us calls on logic, reasoning, learning, while art calls on sensitivity, imagination. So, it is complementary and necessary.

I am very happy to be part of the team.It has all the ingredients for a wonderful children's building. We, we are there. The place is there. There are discussions on the works of art hung in Chardin bilingual school We also do workshops with the children. We have a network of artists which is shared.

The Musée en Herbe is aimed at everyone. So families, schools, activity centers and people who don't usually go to the museum. And for us, it's very important this diversity of social backgrounds because it is precisely one of the functions of art, that everyone comes together in front of works of art. At the moment we're working with a humanitarian shelter for migrants which was set up next to us. We do exhibitions there with works on loan by street artists that are of an outstanding quality. We do workshops there for young adults. We also work with Restaurants du Cœur with families of Bébés du Cœur, which is part of the Restaurants du Cœur initiative for all young people and their mums, because it's very important that the parents are involved as well. I say mums because in general, it is the mums, but sometimes there are also dads. And then, we also work regularly with another association which is called Savoir pour réussir. These are young adults, illiterate for different reasons who come regularly to the Musée en Herbe and at the end of the year, they work together and we put on an end of year exhibition.

We already have a new exhibition here which we're about to re-open which is on an incredible artist called Asdrúbal Colmenarez, who is 86 years old, but who has the spirit of a child. I think it is so, so important that we keep a part of our child self, in any case, for all our life. This man has been in France for around forty years. He's part of the kinetic art movement, which really pushes the limits because all his works can be manipulated. And for him, art isn't interesting unless the spectator participates. So, he offers his art to visitors and everyone can manipulate it.

At the end of October, beginning of November, Speedy Graphito will take over the Musée en Herbe for a year. It will be a completely immersive exhibition by Speedy Graphito who we've known for 30 years. I think we'll be celebrating our 30 years of friendship. He'll share his art, he'll set up here like Invader was set up here 3 or 4 years ago. So there too, we lend the museum to the artists and they are very familiar with our audience, and we work together, of course. It will be really surprising.

We're looking forward to seeing them at the Musée en Herbe. I really can't wait to see them on site, as well because I think this project truly has all the ingredients for a complete and fulfilling education. And I really can't wait for term to begin.