New 100% female spot of committed art: the BNP Paribas Foundation unveils a portrait of Amandine Cornille in the Amiens train station
The BNP Paribas Foundation continues its collaboration with street artists. The third stop of this creative adventure: scientific research in Amiens!
Spotlighting those who take action
Since 1984, the BNP Paribas Foundation has been committed to supporting talents leading innovative projects with significant social, environmental, or cultural impact. It supports those who work daily for a more inclusive, sustainable, and supportive future.
On the occasion of its 40th anniversary, we launched an original artistic project: a series of large urban murals celebrating everyday heroes the Foundation supports. Over the coming months, large-scale portraits beautifully created by street artists will be gradually unveiled on the walls of several cities in France, highlighting the commitment of these changemakers.
Next stop, Amiens station
Just like the mural of Diariata N’Diaye, it’s also in a train station – the Amiens SNCF station – that this third portrait is revealed, depicting Amandine Cornille, a CNRS researcher in genomics, painted by the street artist duo Mojito Fraise!
This coincides with the year of the new Climate & Biodiversity Initiative call for projects by the BNP Paribas Foundation, which is the largest environmental philanthropy program in France. The goal is to improve our understanding of the interactions between climate and biodiversity and the disruptions of the climate system, to assess their consequences on our environment and societies.
Why have we chosen a train station in the region of Picardie ?
A rail station is a place of connection and proximity, of meeting and exchange – a perfect platform to spotlight people making a difference in their region:
- As a woman in science, Amandine Cornille is committed to addressing a significant threat to food security. Originally from the city of Villeneuve d’Asq, Amandine Cornille is a researcher and team leader in plant and insect population genomics and evolutionary genomics. After a thesis and three post-doctorates (at the University of Paris-Sud in France, the Uppsala University in Sweden, and at ETH Zurich in Switzerland), she joined the Quantitative Genetics and Evolution-Le Moulon Laboratory in 2017 and obtained funding to set up her team in 2019. Since then, she has been a laureate of various programs and grants, and was awarded the CNRS Paoletti Prize in 2020. In 2024, Amandine Cornille took the position of associate professor of biology at NYU Abu Dhabi.
Amandine Cornille has been supported by the BNP Paribas Foundation since 2023 through her scientific research project FRUIT RESCUE, which aims to discover how temperate European fruit trees (apple, apricot, peach, olive, and vine) adapt to climate changes. The objective: to establish a map showing “which fruit trees can be cultivated, and in which regions, over the next 30, 50, 100 years.” The method: laboratory analysis of the genome of cultivated apple trees and their wild relatives. Studies in orchards are also conducted to cross-reference laboratory data by monitoring the evolution of trees: flowering time, budburst, growth, etc. This map will be an essential tool for considering the future of our food sovereignty, useful to farmers and all food stakeholders.
- Mojito Fraise is a duo of artists from Le Mans. Mathilda Conversy and Laura Villedieu showcase living beings through their poetic and figurative style in street art, graphic design, or illustration. Works by Mojito Fraise are visible in urban spaces in several major French cities, and now in Amiens.
At the heart of the SNCF Group, SNCF Gares & Connexions is the expert in design and operation of railway stations in France, with full control over the entire value chain to make stations ever more attractive, safe and convenient for passengers. Based on the conviction that stations are full-fledged living spaces, it enriches these “urban villages” to contribute to the dissemination of culture to all audiences: with 3,000 French rail stations, it represents 10 million passengers and visitors daily. Each year, more than 300 exhibitions, interventions, and artistic events are custom-designed for stations throughout France in partnership with major cultural institutions, national or local.
A 100% female mural
In just two days, Mojito Fraise managed to portray the project led by Amandine Cornille. The mural immerses us in a dreamlike and verdant orchard, now threatened by climate change. With poetry and delicacy, the gaze and face of the scientist, accompanied by the emblematic fruit of her scientific work over the years – the apple, particularly two varieties, Granny Smith and Belle de Pontoise, can be thought-provoking to thousands of passengers who pass through Amiens station daily.
Made possible by this partnership with SNCF Gares & Connexions, this portrait is a true vector for promoting researchers committed to environmental issues and supported by the BNP Paribas Foundation: like Amandine Cornille and the importance of agricultural and fruit heritage in Picardy, now represented at Amiens station for at least the next five years.
Another way for the Foundation to give power to those who take action, through the power of media visibility.
As with any artwork, a text accompanies the mural and presents the backgrounds of Amandine Cornille et Mojito Fraise. Until your next visit to the Amiens station, you can find out more about Amandine here:
To go further:
Our support for scientific research
Understanding and protecting the planet