Art and culture for the ESAT educational farm La Ferme de Chosal

"The originality and innovative nature of the District Land Art Center in the medical-social establishment first offers access to culture for handicapped persons, but is also a project that questions the relationship between man and nature and, in this respect, is of concern to many players."

Jean-Louis Chamosset

In the Annecy area, the association of parents and friends of handicapped persons (AAPEI), through its 14 medical-social establishments and services, offers more than 500 handling and counseling projects for mentally handicapped persons, with or without behavioral disorders. The Establishment and Service for Aid through Work (ESAT) of La Ferme de Chosal, created in 1980, is part of it. Registered in the field of social services, environmental conservation and market economy, La Ferme de Chosal welcomes 63 re-employed handicapped workers and is developing substantial farm production.

As an active member of the Réseau Empreintes 74, an environmental education network financed by the General Council of Haute-Savoie, it also has a large educational farm for environmental awareness and sustainable development, which accommodates nearly 6 000 students per year, specialized institutions (tourism and handicap certification) and adult groups.

Art and culture at the heart of the project of La Ferme de Chosal

Today, with a concern for open borders, exchanges and encounters, La Ferme de Chosal wants to place art and culture at the heart of its establishment project, by creating a District Land Art Center (PLAD - Pôle Land Art départemental).
On the agenda is a permanent works itinerary, and Art and Nature biennale, workshops for all, and a Land Art Resource Center. Handicapped persons and artists work together, both in designing the works and in circulating them within the Land Art Center. The project features maximum accessibility, and the itinerary is designed for a public with reduced mobility, appropriate mediation, unrestricted access to the various facilities (conference room, outdoor restrooms), etc. At the same time, a partnership with the District Office for Cultural Action (ODAC) of the district of Haute-Savoie, and the financial participation of the Rhône-Alpes region and the regional director of cultural action, provides a strong political and institutional relay, which helps to enhance and foster the inclusion of this vulnerable public in civil society.