03. Le jardin du Verstohlen

“The Jardin du Verstohlen makes explicit reference to the ‘What Cannot Be Stolen’ Charter, which sets out, in no particular order of importance, ten inappropriable points for living in the world, vital common goods: silence, the horizon, care for the dead, freedom of use, quality of life, physical and mental health, the long term, the possibility of remaining and of becoming, along with methods that prevent the theft from happening: proof of care, the climate of care, investigation, the right to experiment, generativity of the vulnerable and, more generally, furtivity.

Like the Charter, this garden seeks to inspire all those who see their humanity wounded and despair setting in, and who will be able to gather at will and meditate in an area dedicated to so doing, the first one.

The garden showcases furtivity via an imperceptible Möbius strip, provides an environment for rediscovery of silence, pays tribute to the disappeared, has edible plants on offer, dedicates a plant library to the humanities, creates essential preserved views...” Cynthia Fleury and Antoine Fenoglio

Cynthia FLEURY, philosopher and psychoanalyst, and Antoine FENOGLIO, designer

 

 

Cynthia Fleury is a philosopher and psychoanalyst. She is professor and holder of the Humanities and Health Chair at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (CNAM), associate professor at the Higher National School of Mines in Paris (Mines-ParisTech), and holder of the Philosophy Chair at Sainte-Anne Hospital in the Paris Psychiatry and Neurosciences University Hospital Group (GHU). After an initial focus on politics and democracy, her research took a new turn following her contact with psychanalysis and is now mainly concerned with ethical questions. The author of Le Soin est un humanisme (Care Is a Humanism. 2019), she is one of France’s he best-known advocates of a “society of care”. In 2022, she joined forces with the designer Antoine Fenoglio to co-author the booklet Ce qui ne peut être volé. Charte du Verstohlen (What Cannot Be Stolen. The Verstohlen Charter), published by Tracts-Gallimard. Cynthia Fleury is also a founding member of the International Network of Women Philosophers, sponsored by UNESCO.

Antoine Fenoglio is a designer. Along with Frédéric Lecourt, he cofounded the Les Sismo collective, which specialises in the connections between design and the ethics of care, taking three approaches that can be complementary or independent: initiating change, mastering responsible creation, and “de-risking” the future. In 2018, Antoine Fenoglio and Cynthia Fleury cofounded the “Design with Care” seminar at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (CNAM), Humanities and Health Chair. This monthly rendezvous explores the links between design, ethics and philosophy. Antoine Fenoglio is also Director of Design, Experimentation and Deployment at the Paris Psychiatry and Neurosciences University Hospital Group’s Philosophy Chair. In 2022, he and Cynthia Fleury co-authored Ce qui ne peut être volé. Charte du Verstohlen (What Cannot Be Stolen. The Verstohlen Charter), published by Tracts-Gallimard, founding text for a “clinic of the real enabling us to meet the challenges of transformation necessary to the contemporary world”.