A round-up of French cultural villas around the world and artists’ residency programmes

Since the founding of the French Academy in Rome in the 17th century, France has supported artistic and cultural influence by fostering the cultural immersion of its artists within foreign cultures in order to enhance their work. It was with this in mind that the Casa de Velázquez was set up in Madrid in 1920, followed by Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto in 1992, to develop the network.
In July 2021, France inaugurated its fourth villa for artists’ residencies in the United States, Villa Albertine.

These residencies, in addition to the villas themselves, are an important element of France’s cultural promotion and cooperation policy. They also meet current environmental challenges as they are synonymous with long-term mobility and settling in a new region. They are spaces conducive to innovation and transmission. Research, especially in design and craftsmanship, enable new sustainable materials to be created and new fabrication processes to be developed, which can then be applied more widely.

France supports the development of residencies via several schemes.

• The Institut Français issues a call for applications every year, providing around 70 international artists the opportunity to avail themselves of between three- and six-month residencies at the Cité Internationale des Arts, in the centre of Paris.
• French and foreign artists can also submit their applications directly to the Cité Internationale des Arts, which organizes committees dedicated to various disciplines (visual arts, music, writing and live entertainment) and topics. Since it was founded in 1965, the Cité Internationale des Arts has hosted artists in residency from around the world. It is a meeting place open to dialogue between cultures, where artists meet their audiences and industry specialists. In partnership with 135 French and international bodies, every month it hosts more than 300 artists from all disciplines, generations and horizons.

• The “Fabrique des Résidences” (Residency Factory) programme, also led by the Institut Français in Paris, is aimed at the cultural services of French embassies, Instituts Français and Alliances Françaises that wish to start a residency programme. The Residency Factory provides technical and financial support to the cultural network to design and structure an artists’ residency programme in the country it is located in.
  Various locations and programmes for artists’ residencies can therefore emerge all over the world, such as in Saint-Louis, Senegal, with the Villa Ndar, and in Vietnam, with the Villa Saigon.

Villa Albertine, USA

The historic French villas have recently been joined by Villa Albertine, which opened its doors in the USA.

This opening is part of a policy to expand France’s existing artist residencies abroad but thoroughly revamps the concept of artists’ residencies, with a permanent presence in a dozen cities simultaneously and bringing the residents to experience American life fully, and understand the major contemporary issues at play.

Villa Albertine brings together 10 residency venues in 10 key US cities (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C.). It will host around 60 residents a year in all artistic disciplines and offer residencies that are tailored to creatives, researchers and cultural sector professionals.

The call for applications for the second season of Villa Albertine is open until 20 January 2022 and concerns residencies in the 10 villas in the US for the year 2023, for periods varying between one and three months.

More information about Villa Albertine: https://villa-albertine.org/fr

French Academy in Rome – Villa Médicis

The French Academy in Rome – Villa Médicis, attached to the Ministry of Culture, fosters artistic creation and promotes dialogue between cultures and the arts with three missions:

• The Colbert Mission hosts artists and researchers in residency ;
• The Malraux Mission implements a cultural programme that includes all areas of art and creation, providing a real artists’ laboratory between France and Italy, in a spirit of openness to Europe and the world;
• The Heritage Mission, to conserve, restore and inform the general public of its built and landscape heritage and its collections.

More information about Villa Médicis: https://www.villamedici.it/fr/

The Casa de Velázquez, Madrid

The Casa de Velázquez, inaugurated in 1928 on land granted to France by the Spanish State, is a centre of artistic creation and scientific research. The Casa is unique in that it jointly hosts artists (like the Villa Médicis in Rome) and researchers.

The aim of the Casa de Velázquez is to develop creative activities and research linked to the arts, languages, literature and societies in Iberian, Ibero-American and Maghreb countries.

Another role it plays is the training of artists, researchers and academics, and contributes to the development of artistic and scientific dialogue between France and the countries concerned. It has a well-stocked library of more than 140,000 works and around 1,700 periodical titles, as well as a publications service that publishes some fifteen works and a journal in two volumes.

The Casa de Velázquez hosts around thirty artists a year for residency periods ranging from one month to a year. Calls for applications are usually issued in October/November for residencies the following season.

More information on the Casa de Velázquez: https://www.casadevelazquez.org/

Villa Kujoyama, Kyoto

Villa Kujoyama was designed as a forum for dialogue, and a laboratory of creation and interdisciplinary research, where all types of creators can meet, with the desire to build a project with Japan. It supports some twenty emerging and experienced artists and creatives a year, with residencies of between two and six months, in all areas of creation, from craftsmanship to contemporary art, visual arts, literature, live entertainment, cinema, digital arts and gastronomy.

Villa Kujoyama provides tailored assistance to its resident artists and works to promote their visibility post-residence, in particular by creating partnerships with various institutions in France and Japan. By forging lasting ties between French and Japanese artists and creators, Villa Kujoyama is a particularly important tool in the cultural cooperation scheme that France promotes. It is an exceptional resource that allows French artists and creators to truly integrate the Japanese ecosystem and facilitates the later development of their activities in the country.

The Fondation Bettencourt-Schueller is the main patron of the Villa. The Villa Kujoyama is today a unique institution in the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ cultural cooperation network. It is one of the spearheads of the Institut Français’ activity in Japan and an exceptional institution, by virtue of its history and location.

More information about Villa Kujoyama: https://www.villakujoyama.jp/

Villa Swagatam, in India

Villa Swagatam is a network of artistic and literary residencies founded by the Institut Français in India. The programme welcomes French artists, designers and writers to India for a minimum stay of one month, during which they can do research, make observations or produce work. The Indian partner residencies are located the following cities of India: New Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Satkhol, Gangtok, Bengaluru, Vagamon, Chennai and Auroville.

Through this network, Villa Swagatam aims to strengthen cultural ties between France and India by providing a space for creativity and exchange to artists and people who work in culture. The residents are chosen in close collaboration with each residency on the basis of their work, their project and their interest in the programme.

Once chosen, residents receive financial and logistical support for their stay, as well as access to cultural events and work spaces in partner residencies. Viall Swagatam also organizes meetings, discussions and public events to promote the work of the residents and encourage inter-cultural dialogue.

The annual call for applications for 16 residencies focuses on the performing arts and artistic and literary professions. Villa Swagatam launches the second edition of its residency programme for artists, a network of residencies designed to encourage cultural exchange between France, India and South Asia. Applications open until 31 May.

More information on Villa Swagatam: https://www.ifindia.in/villa-swagatam/