Announcing Villa Albertine’s Post-Residency Grantees

April 19, 2024 – With the support of Ardian and a jury of partner institutions, including Villa Albertine, the French Academy of Fine Arts, and the Institut français, the post-residency program will allocate 21 grants to Villa Albertine residents (artists, thinkers, or culture professionals), who completed research or exploratory projects in the United States in 2023.  

This program aims to support promising post-residency initiatives in order to transform them into tangible achievements that strengthen transatlantic ties and creative thinking around contemporary issues.  

After a call for projects addressed to the 83 residents of the 2023 cohort, 21 grants will be allocated to organizations in France and the United States for the following projects:  

Digital and visual artist Ugo ARSAC will fly back to the United States to produce an immersive work and present the outcomes of his Villa Albertine residency project, “Beneath the Street,” in which he explored New York’s underground at the Tribeca Film Festival. 

Architects Frédéric CHARTIER & Pascale DALIX’s residency looked at the rehabilitation and revitalization of high-rise districts built during the modernist period in Chicago. Following their residency, they intend to publish their findings and present their research at the Chicago Architecture Center. 

Visual artist François CHASTENET, whose residency delved into Philadelphia’s street art, will develop a thematic website to help make his work visible and accessible to all. 

Choreographer Ashley CHEN and videographer Peter STEVEN spent their multi-city residency (Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York) creating a film that blends together choreography, video, and music. Their grant will support the post-production of the film and the development of an immersive installation.  

Musician and radio commentator Marina CHICHE’s residency examined the place of women in classical music. She will continue this work by giving talks, performances, and masterclasses at universities and music institutions in the United States, particularly in California, while developing a new podcast drawing from research in the country. 

Author and actor Jonathan DRILLET and choreographer and actress Marlène SALDANA’s residency was dedicated to a study of Paul Verhoeven’s 1995 film, Showgirls. Taking a new look at the setting of this movie some thirty years after its release, their project works towards the making of a medium-length film.  

Musician Djellali EL OUZERI gathered oral, historical, and musical material in Atlanta during his residency. He will now put together an exhibition, “Marstlanta,” in Marseille, which aims to build a bridge between the two cities while immersing visitors in thirty years of musical history and urban evolution.  

After spending his residency investigating Voodoo practices within New Orleans’ Black Indian community, choreographer, graphic designer, and filmmaker Smaïl KANOUTE will return to Louisiana during the 2025 Mardi Gras festivities to create a special costume for the occasion, give a dance performance, and co-direct a documentary.  

Visual artist Grégoire KORGANOW, who completed an on-board seafaring residency with the Atlantic-Pacific Artists Line, will now harness the audiovisual and written material from his voyage to create an exhibition and publication.  

Artist and filmmaker Marie LOSIER will direct a documentary feature about the music collective known as The Residents, using information and material gathered during her residency in San Francisco.  

Art historian and architect Roula MATAR will publish “James Johnson Sweeney (1900-1986) et la pensée du musée aux États-Unis au sortir de la seconde guerre mondiale” (James Johnson Sweeney (1900 - 1986) and the Museum Concept in the United States at the End of WWII), which follows her residency devoted to the American curator. 

Writer Nicolas MATHIEU  began working on a publication with the American writer William Boyle after his residency retracing the steps of William Faulkner’s life in the South. This grant will enable him to invite Boyle and his editor to the Nancy Book Fair “Le Livre sur la place,” to enrich their Franco-American collaboration.  

Filmmaker Raphaël MILLET, whose residency involved a study and creative interpretation of Gaston Méliès’ film and photographic archives, will journey back to the United States to submit his exhibition project, “American Méliès & His Star Film Ranch” to a number of museums.  

Throughout his New Orleans residency, musician, scholar, and dancer NSDOS strove to find ways to rehumanize data and embody it in dance moves. He will apply his grant to create an interactive digital platform and further works with musician Tiss Rodriguez (a fellow Villa Albertine alumnus), along with local artists.  

Visual artist Sara OUHADDOU will return to the United States to craft a costume representing the many forms and meanings of the star, after dedicating her residency to carrying out a comparative study into symbolic representations of the star in the United States and the Arab world. 

Musician Tiss RODRIGUEZ spent his immersive residency delving into the New Orleans jazz scene, and will now develop further creations with fellow Villa Albertine alumnus NSDOS while preparing a new series of concerts for his solo project, “Tiss+.”  

Artist and scholar SMITH will return to the most significant locations of his residency, where he joined Marie N’Diaye to explore shamanic practices in California. This next stage will involve promoting the photographic work from his residency and shooting a film, currently in development with cinematographer Josée Deshaies. 

Choreographer Noé SOULIER spent his residency preparing a new dance piece for the Trisha Brown Dance Company, “In the Fall,” which premiered in New York in March 2024. During his trip, he met costume designer and scenographer Kaye Voyce, whom he will now invite to France to help design costumes for the dancers and musicians in his next work, “Close Up.”  

Multidisciplinary artist Victoire THIERREE will set up an exhibition, “Okinawa,” drawing from her residency experiences in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, which blends together visual art and the military history of the United States in Japan.  

Following a Boston residency investigating the opioid crisis, urban planner and sociologist Elsa VIVANT will continue developing her documentary film. She will also share her insights with local figures whom she met during her residency.  

Architect Feda WARDAK will continue the project that he launched during his residency to build a wooden water tank in Chicago. This symbolic work is intended to raise awareness around water access in Englewood, a neighborhood marked by ethno-racial inequalities.  

Two post-residency grants will also be devoted specifically to professions in art and design, with support from the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation:  

Designer and glassblower Eve GEORGE will bring to life “Brume,” the collection that she developed during her New York City residency, in which she crafted glass objects that provide a different perspective on tableware by incorporating new service and tasting rituals. She will return to New York City to launch this new collection around a dinner/performance at Villa Albertine. 

Designer Felipe RIBON’s residency was dedicated to the multicultural landscape of New York comfort food. His exploration of the city’s neighborhoods and food products gave rise to formal and social analysis, personal reflections, and systematic documentation (photographs, interviews, and audio and video recordings), which will form the focus of an exhibition in France, a publication, and a website.  

Villa Albertine – Post residency grants are made possible thanks to the generous support of Ardian.