Villa Albertine and AXA Partner to Support International Artistic Exchanges 

With a mission to act for human progress by protecting what matters, AXA will provide exclusive sponsorship support for the 2024 edition of the Marfa residency program, entitled “Inhabiting the Desert”, and the 2024 – 2026 cycles of Villa Albertine’s flagship visual arts grant program, Étant donnés, now celebrating its 30th year of activity. By partnering with AXA, Villa Albertine continues to expand its support for contemporary artists in the spheres of creation and distribution. The Étant donnés grants provide financial support to enable American museums and galleries to present exhibitions by one or more French artist(s) and French institutions to present exhibitions of American artists. The Marfa residency, produced in partnership with Centre Pompidou, brings together artists and intellectuals to explore a crucial issue in our society and to generate work that fosters interdisciplinary and cross-cultural dialogue.

“Villa Albertine is honored to partner with AXA to amplify and nurture the work of artists and creators. Our mission to adapt to artists’ unique creative needs is ever-present in this collaboration, which expands Villa Albertine’s presence from the Texan desert with our Marfa residency to contemporary visual artists, curators, museums, and cultural institutions on both sides of the Atlantic with Etant donnés,” stated Mohamed Bouabdallah, Director of Villa Albertine and Cultural Counselor of France.

Following the success of its first edition in 2023, Villa Albertine’s collective and multidisciplinary residency program in Marfa, Texas returns in 2024, gathering five French and American artists and researchers to reflect on the challenges of preserving a habitable world. Located in far West Texas, 60 miles from the US-Mexico border, Marfa’s desert landscape serves as an ideal setting for artists and intellectuals to examine key ecological and migratory challenges and our connection with our surrounding environments. This program has been developed and implemented in collaboration with Mathieu Potte-Bonneville, Head of the Department of Culture and Creation at the Centre Pompidou. Learn more about the 2024 laureates here.  

• Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, author and photographer
• Alice Loumeau, architect, artist, and cartographer  
• Josefina Paz, artist and researcher
• Grégoire Schaller, visual artist, choreographer, and aesthetics researcher
• Adèle Humbert, podcast creator

For 30 years, the Étant donnés program has strengthened ties between France and the US in the field of contemporary art by fostering active collaborations and encouraging long-lasting partnerships between French and American visual artists, collectives, curators, and cultural institutions. With the exclusive sponsorship of AXA, and in partnership with Institut français, ADAGP, and the Ministère de la Culture, the fund provides creative grants to American and French nonprofit institutions wishing to organize exhibitions featuring living French or France-based artists and American artists, respectively, as well as curatorial fellowships for American curators to conduct research on the French visual arts scene. From September 2024 to August 2026, the creative grants will allow nine American museum and non-profit institutions and three French institutions to welcome artists to present group or individual exhibitions. During fall 2024, in partnership with Independent Curators International, two American curators will participate in fellowships in France through Étant donnés.

I. Creative Grants for Projects in the US & France – Laureates

• Bass Museum of Art | Miami Beach, FL, USA
• Tout-Monde Art Foundation | Tallahassee, FL, USA
• Centre d’art de Saint-Fons | Saint-Fons, France
• Le 19, Centre régional d’art contemporain de Montbéliard | Montbéliard, France
• The High Line | New York, NY, USA
• Walker Art Center | Minneapolis, MN, USA
• Frac des Pays de la Loire | Carquefou, France
• NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale | Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
• Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA Miami) | Miami, FL, USA
• The Bell – Brown Arts Institute | Providence, RI, USA
• The Ukranian Museum | New York, NY, USA
• Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis | St. Louis, MO, USA

II. Curatorial Fellowships – Laureates

• Park Myers
• Rotam Rozental

“We are proud to be a major patron of Villa Albertine and the exclusive partner of this ambitious artistic program. At AXA we believe that culture and the arts are vital catalysts for progress, as they foster innovation, critical thinking and beauty. By supporting artistic creation, we cultivate cooperation, intercultural dialogues and innovative ideas on issues of our era. This aspiration mirrors AXA’s own purpose, which inspires our 140,000 employees across the world: to act for human progress by protecting what matters. As an international group with French roots, present in the United States since 1991, the “Étant donnés” program will further strengthen the historical ties that bind us.” – Thomas Buberl, CEO of AXA.