Eden Summer Institute: Arts and Utopia in North Carolina

Origins: The Residency and First Edition (2024)

Ten years ago, inspired by his research on Black Mountain College and a desire to explore how artistic practices can help “reenchant” collective realities, Sylvain Couzinet-Jacques made a bold and symbolic gesture: he purchased a house for $1,000 in Eden, North Carolina, intending to transform it into a space for experimentation. In 2024, as part of his Villa Albertine residency, he returned to Eden and spent two months immersing himself in the region’s cultural and historical fabric, particularly the legacy of Black Mountain College. There, alongside eight fellow artists, he launched the inaugural Eden Summer Institute: a 10-day laboratory for contemporary art and social practice.

The inaugural edition emphasized openness, education, and civic dialogue. Artists from the U.S. and Europe worked side by side with residents, with the support of community organizations such as FAFA, The Salvation Army of Eden, and the Boys & Girls Club. The program was rooted in a belief that art can serve as both a social catalyst and a space for learning.

Couzinet-Jacques’s work, over the past decade, has explored the intersection of aesthetics and sociopolitical environments. Through digital imaging, networking technologies, and conceptual strategies, he investigates the narratives and imaginaries that emerge at the edge of collective, often utopian, systems.

2025 Program: Expanded Vision and Local Engagement

Building on the momentum of its first edition, the Eden Summer Institute 2025 returns with renewed ambition and expanded scope. Thanks to the 2025–26 Post-Residency Grant, the program has grown into a month-long platform for co-creation, experimentation, and public engagement.

This year, from August 18^th to September 18^th, 25 artists have been invited to take part in a dynamic calendar of events, including pedagogical interventions and workshops, artist film screenings, public talks and performances, concerts and community gatherings, as well as a county-wide photography contest open to all. The extended duration allows for deeper collaborations with local organizations, broader public involvement, and a more sustainable rhythm for all participants.

While continuing to foster transatlantic dialogue, the 2025 edition places even greater emphasis on local impact, demonstrating how contemporary art can build bridges between people, places, and pedagogies.

With the support of 2025-26 Villa Albertine Post-Residency grant

WITH : Kuralai Abdukhalikova, Lou Bellegarde, Justine Bernachon, David de Beyter, Joe Cave, Zoé Chauvet, Sylvain Couzinet-Jacques, Albane Duvillier, Pierre Gaignard, François Gouret, Bana Haffar, Thomas Hauser, Jesse Hoyle, Laurent Isler, Olivier Jonvaux, Antoine Langlois, Kasia Ozga, Antoine Renard, Céleste Rogosin, Elliot Rogosin, Anhar Salem, Ugo Schiavi, Amit Shilo, Yuyan Wang, RaShaun Wilson, CJ Brinson & family + more to come.

Learn more about the Eden Summer Institute

The story began in May 2023, when French saxophonist and composer Raphaël Imbert embarked on a Villa Albertine residency in the United States. His project, Music is My Field, set out to explore the rich musical traditions of the Southeast and Appalachia. It was in Atlanta that Imbert first connected with saxophonist Kebbi Williams and his collective, Reverence, during the city’s Music in the Park festival.That encounter sparked a transatlantic artistic exchange. Imbert invited Williams to perform at the J.E.S.T. Festival in Marseille in November 2023, and later at the Marseille Jazz des Cinq Continents festival in July 2024. The collaboration deepened in November 2024, when Imbert came back to Atlanta. Alongside Marseille-based musicians T.I.E. (electronics) and Blanche Lafuente (drums), he traveled to Atlanta to co-create a new piece with Williams, Zacchaeus Paul, and Daniel Wytanis. The result was a powerful performance at Music in the Park on November 17, 2024.Nydia Blas and Joshua Dudley Greer’s residencies aim to narrate the city of Marseille and its complexities, offering, in resonance with French photographers Geoffroy Mathieu and Yohanne Lamoulère’s explorations of Atlanta, a perspective on two cities through the lens of communities and urban landscapes.

Sylvain Couzinet-Jacques

Artist

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Sylvain Couzinet-Jacques is an artist and researcher currently completing a PhD at the Arles National School of Photography (ENSPA) and the University of Aix-Marseille. Working on the concept of retcon and the history of Black Mountain College, his core thesis investigates whether this unique institution can be revived in the current context of the United States.