The Section of History and Aesthetics of Cinema at the University of Lausanne is pleased to invite you to its next study day on the theme of „Practitioners of Animation,“ which will take place on April 15, 2025, at UNIL – room 412 of the Amphimax building.
Since the mid-1980s, the study of animation as an academic field has seen significant development. Encouraged by the advent of „production studies“ in the United States and England, this movement proposes to think of animation not simply through the forms and themes of films, but as a socio-economic-cultural practice. Rethinking animation as a series of heterogeneous practices unique to each studio – the notion of studio here is conceived in a broad definition including the „solitary“ practice of Alexandre Athané, the couple’s conception of Gisèle and Nag Ansorge, as well as the industrial structures of Disney or, on a more local level, those of the Liechti studio (Geneva) – implies an epistemological refocusing around the figure of the practitioner.
This study day aims to explore the different modes of production (state funding, commissions, etc.) and techniques (animation in its more concrete materiality) that have continuously informed and conditioned the experience of practitioners engaged in creation. By positioning praxis at the heart of this day, the Section of History and Aesthetics of Cinema at UNIL wishes to restore the place of the men and women who have participated concretely and often invisibly in the history of animation. Through various case studies, it intends to offer a framework for reflection to understand the dynamics at work within a broad system.
This day is organized by the research group of the project „History of French-speaking Swiss Animation“ within the framework of the Collaboration UNIL + Cinémathèque suisse, in partnership with the Data and Archives Service (D+A) of Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Center for Cinematographic Studies, and the Section of History and Aesthetics of Cinema of the Faculty of Letters at UNIL.
