Search
Discovery Residency
Culture & Diversité Foundation
Since 2021, the French Academy in Rome has been pursuing a partnership with the Culture & Diversité Foundation, which promotes access to the arts and culture for young people from modest backgrounds.
Each year, an open call 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 encourage the professional integration of young graduates from artistic disciplines and to promote the vitality of contemporary creation in all its forms, French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici and the Culture & Diversité Foundation have joined forces to create this Discovery Residency.
A better understanding of the cultural sector in France and abroad
This new 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 French and international residency ecosystem, and gain a better grasp of the challenges facing the sector to which they are destined.
A tailor-made program
Each year, at the end of a open call competition, eight prizewinners are selected to take part in the Discovery Residency. During a week of immersion at Villa Medici in Rome, the eight winners 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 and profiles.
Visit fellows
Time will also be set aside for exchanges between the prizewinners and the sixteen fellows of Villa Medici artists from all fields of artistic creation: architecture, musical composition, literature, visual arts, sound design, photography, etc.
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.
TO APPLY
- Have participated in an Equal Opportunity program from the Culture & Diversité Foundation
- Completed studies and graduated
- Evolve in one of the following sectors: art and design, cinema, art history or architecture
Winners
2024 edition
Discovery residency week at Villa Medici: November 24 – November 29, 2024
Winners of the 2024 edition:
- Lucas BOUAN TSOBGNY, artist, graduated from Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2021
- Aline CRÉTINOIR, scriptwriter, director and photographer, graduate of the Master Cinéma et audiovisuel (Pratiques contemporaines de l’image) at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 in 2018, of the Master Scénario et écritures audiovisuelles at Université Paris Nanterre in 2019 and of the Conservatoire Européen d’Écriture Audiovisuelle in 2022
- Maymouna BARADJI, artist, graduate of L’École des Beaux-Arts de Marseille in 2024
- Adèle VINCENTI-CRASSON, director, graduate of La Fémis in 2021
- Rayan SAOUD, director and screenwriter, graduate of CinéFabrique, École Nationale Supérieure de Cinéma
- Ora YERMIA, artist, graduate of the École Européenne Supérieure de l’Image d’Angoulême in 2024
- Bobby CHALARD, writer and poet, graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts de Nantes Saint-Nazaire and 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.
2023 edition
Discovery resident 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 resident 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 Villa Medici Arson
- Jonathan PALUMBO, director, La Fémis graduate
- Lucie POSTEL, artist, graduate of the École nationale supérieure d’art de Villa Medici Arson
- Armelle TULUNDA, artist, graduate of the École nationale supérieure des arts de Nancy, France
2021 edition
Discovery resident 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
“PERSPECTIVES” VIDEO SERIES
An instructive journey into the world of creation
Offered by the French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici and the Culture & Diversité Foundation, 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 during 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 tthe French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, talks about 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.
Created in partnership with
