The Conservatory (Saint-Denis)

In the film The Conservatory (Saint-Denis), we see young hands patiently attempting to play Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ for the very first time. The melody, drawn from the final movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, was designated the European Union’s official anthem in 1985, following considerable debate, as part of a broader effort to reinforce a shared European identity and foster a sense of unity among its member states. The composition, Beethoven’s last and most celebrated symphony, was originally set to a poem by Friedrich Schiller celebrating human unity, friendship and peace.

‘Ode to Joy’, has since its inception, been ascribed different meanings and employed in a variety of musical contexts. It has been invoked in hope and solidarity, but also appropriated for nationalist purposes. The composition is very often among the first pieces children learn to play on the piano. It is this process that was captured at the conservatory, which is located in the precarious city of Saint-Denis and has, since the late 1970s, offered young people the opportunity to learn an instrument. The institution began life as a social project: a space where music could offer respite for children within precarious and violent realities.

The children’s slow, tentative performances in the film – filled with pauses, hesitations and new beginnings – become interpretations in their own right. Repetition becomes a ritual through which the composition is gradually transformed and inhabited by the children playing it. In this context, the children’s interpretations can be seen not simply as acts of learning, but of forming and reforming a shared cultural space.

The film explores notions of belonging, asking who makes up Europe today and who gets to shape its future. Centering the marginalized community in Saint-Denis, the film draws attention to those on the periphery of European cities, so often forgotten in general discourse.

The conservatory becomes a place where Europe is not only transmitted, but quietly reconfigured – through the hands of the young people who are already part of it but too often rendered invisible, as well as those who are still arriving.

Alongside Playground, recent work by Tarik Kiswanson is on display in the exhibition Threading Landscapes: Art at Park Abbey at Museum PARCUM.