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Discovery Residence
Fondation Culture et Diversité
Since 2021, the French Academy in Rome has been pursuing a partnership with the Fondation Culture & Diversité, which promotes access to the arts and culture for young people from modest backgrounds.
Every other year, a call for applications is launched, open to 8 young graduates from the Foundation’s “Equal Opportunity” programs, with their sights set on careers in art, design, cinema, art history and architecture. A tailor-made program awaits them for a week at Villa Medici, with practical workshops, visits and meetings with artists, curators and professionals from the cultural sector to help them build a network and facilitate their professional beginnings.
Promoting the integration of young professionals
Driven by a shared ambition to foster the professional integration of young graduates from artistic disciplines and promote the vitality of contemporary creation in all its forms, the French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici and the Fondation Culture & Diversité have joined forces to create the Résidence de découverte – Villa Medici.
A better understanding of the cultural sector in France and abroad
This residency is aimed at young graduates of the Fondation Culture & Diversité’s Equal Opportunity and Residency programs, and is designed to help them develop their professional network, deepen their understanding of the residency ecosystem in France and abroad, and gain a better grasp of the challenges facing the sector they are destined to enter.
A busy, tailor-made program
Every other year, following a call for applications, six to eight laureates are selected to take part in the Discovery Residency. During a week’s immersion at Villa Medici in Rome, the eight laureates benefit from a tailor-made program of meetings, seminars, workshops and training courses, in contact with French and Italian cultural players, residency specialists and artists from a wide range of backgrounds.
Meeting the residents
Time will also be set aside for exchanges between the prize-winners and the sixteen Villa Medici fellows from all fields of artistic creation: architecture, musical composition, literature, visual arts, sound creation, photography, and more.
This initiative extends the commitment of both institutions to today’s artists, and is part of a renewed approach to support and interdisciplinary networking between young professionals and structures supporting contemporary creation.
SUBMIT AN APPLICATION
- Have participated in an Equal Opportunity program from the Fondation Culture & Diversité
- Completed studies and graduated
- Evolve in one of the following sectors: art and design, cinema, art history or architecture
Winners
Edition 2024
Discovery week at Villa Medici: November 25 – November 29, 2024
Winners of the 2024 edition:
- Lucas BOUAN TSOBGNY, artist, graduated from Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2021
- Aline CRÉTINOIR, screenwriter, director and photographer, graduated from the Master Cinéma et audiovisuel (Pratiques contemporaines de l’image) at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 in 2018, from the Master Scénario et écritures audiovisuelles at Université Paris Nanterre in 2019 and from the Conservatoire Européen d’Écriture Audiovisuelle in 2022.
- Maymouna BARADJI, artist, graduated from L’École des Beaux-Arts de Marseille in 2024
- Adèle VINCENTI-CRASSON, director, graduating from La Fémis in 2021
- Rayan SAOUD, director and scriptwriter, graduate of CinéFabrique, École Nationale Supérieure de Cinéma
- Ora YERMIA, artist, graduated from the École Européenne Supérieure de l’Image d’Angoulême in 2024
- Bobby CHALARD, writer and poet, graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts de Nantes Saint-Nazaire and holds a Master’s degree in Literary Creation from the Université le Havre Normandie and the École Supérieure d’Art et de Design le Havre-Rouen.
Edition 2023
Discovery week at Villa Medici: November 19 – November 25, 2023
Winners of the 2023 edition:
- Clara Rivault, visual artist, graduate of La Cambre and MOCO ESBA
- Florence Lafargue-Mislov, director and photographer, graduate of ENSAD Paris
- Gabriella Panarelli, visual artist, graduate of Beaux-Arts de Paris
- Hélène Rosselet-Ruiz, actress, director and screenwriter, La Fémis graduate
- Helio Pu, actor, director and screenwriter, La Fémis graduate
- Maëlla-Mickaëlle Marechal, director, graduate of Université Stendhal Grenoble III and Conservatoire Jean Wiener (DET)
- Mounib Ben Abbes, director, graduate of the Institut National de l’Audiovisuel
2022 Edition
Discovery week at Villa Medici: November 13 – November 20, 2022
Winners of the 2022 edition :
- Alex AYIVI, artist, graduate of the École nationale supérieure des arts de Bourges (France)
- Jade DE ROOSTER, artist, graduate of the Haute École des Arts du Rhin
- Martin JAUVAT, director, La Fémis graduate
- Jérémy LELOUTRE, designer, graduate of the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris
- Flavie LOREAU, artist, graduate of the École nationale supérieure d’art de la Villa Arson
- Jonathan PALUMBO, director, La Fémis graduate
- Lucie POSTEL, artist, graduate of the École nationale supérieure d’art de la Villa Arson
- Armelle TULUNDA, artist, graduate of the École nationale supérieure des arts de Nancy, France
Edition 2021
Discovery week at Villa Medici: November 4 – November 7, 2021
Winners of the 2021 edition:
- Nawelle AÏNECHE, visual artist with an arts and crafts diploma from Lycée La Martinière Diderot, Lyon
- Cindy DJAHNINE, architect, graduate of the École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Paris – La Villette
- Jean-Louis HENG, multidisciplinary artist and graduate of the École supérieure d’art et design de Tours-Angers-Le Mans (TALM)
- Florian MERMIN, visual artist and graduate of the École nationale supérieure des Beaux- Arts de Paris
- Talita OTOVIĆ, multi-disciplinary artist, graduate of the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris
- Virginie TAN, graduate of the Haute École des Arts du Rhin and the University of the Arts in London
VIDEO SERIES PERSPECTIVES
An instructive journey into the world of creation
Proposed by the Académie de France à Rome – Villa Médicis and the Fondation Culture & Diversité, with the support of the French Ministry of Culture, the Perspectives video series provides information and advice to support young artists in the early stages of their professional careers. The series is divided into several episodes, filmed on the occasion of the 2022 Discovery Residency at Villa Medici.
Marie Chênel
Marie Chênel, General Secretary of DCA – Association de développement des centers d’art, gives advice on how to make the most of your work as an artist in an eco-system.
Sam Stourdzé
Sam Stourdzé, Director of Villa Medici – Académie de France à Rome, looks back on the benefits of a research and creative residency.
Marianne Derrien
Marianne Derrien, curator and president of CEA (Association des Commissaires d’Exposition Indépendants) explains how to optimize your application to meet the expectations of a jury.
Isabelle Boulord
Isabelle Boulord, Head of the Visual Arts Department at the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Île-de-France, explores the various options available to young artists at the start of their career.
Bénédicte Alliot
Bénédicte Alliot, Director of the Cité Internationale des Arts, discusses the challenges of international mobility, and the advantages of moving to a new territory when you’re an artist.
Thomas Conchou
Thomas Conchou, director of the contemporary art center La Ferme du Buisson, explains the benefits of co-creation and the value of an artists’ collective when you’re just starting out.
Hélène Vayssières
Hélène Vayssières, Head of short and medium-length films at ARTE France, to find out about the challenges of distribution in the audiovisual sector: how to publicize your short film, and how to ensure it is selected?
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