New York, January 4, 2023 — Villa Albertine, a cultural institution from the French Embassy with headquarters in New York City and regional offices in 9 US cities, today announced the highlights of its nationwide 2024 season. Presenting new initiatives and signature annual programs, the season opens a variety of pathways for cultural exchange and connection between the US and the French-speaking world.

Launched in 2021 under the leadership of Gaëtan Bruel, and currently led by acting Director Judith Roze, Villa Albertine anticipates the arrival of its next Director and Cultural Counselor of France in the US, Mohamed Bouabdallah. He will take office in New York City next month, and a dedicated announcement will be shared upon his arrival.

The 2024 programming spans Villa Albertine’s four institutional pillars:

Nationwide public events

Villa Albertine’s signature Night of Ideas will take place from February 23 to March 3 across 20 US cities, inviting thought leaders, activists, performers, authors, and academics to engage the public in late-night discussions addressing major global issues. This year’s unifying theme, “Outside the Lines,” centers urban life and development, raising questions about the impact of climate change, new technologies, gentrification, and social and cultural activism. Night of Ideas 2024 is made possible by leadership support from the Judy & Peter Blum Kovler Foundation. Visit nightofideas.org for the latest dates and programming details.

In New York City, Villa Albertine will host a new conversation series that tackles how museums, historic buildings, and archaeological sites can increase their resilience in the face of the urgent challenges to cultural heritage preservation—from over-tourism to climate change and political instability. The series, called “Heritage Speaks,” is organized in partnership with the World Monuments Fund.

Between February and May Villa Albertine will further organize six national tours for French and Francophone authors, including International Booker Prize winning David Diop, bestselling author and former Villa Albertine resident Marie Darrieussecq, and Goncourt Prize for a first novel winner Jakuta Alikavazovic.

Exploratory, bespoke artist residencies

Throughout 2024, a cohort of 50 international creatives—poets, historians, video artists, musicians, a chef, and more—will undertake projects across the US for Villa Albertine’s annual artist residency program. Reinventing the model for residencies, the program offers bespoke experiences for global creators, thinkers, and cultural professionals to engage in creative exploration, in order to facilitate cross-cultural learning and exchange. Applications are currently open for the 2025 residency program. The selection will be announced in the spring.

In addition to its flagship residency program, Villa Albertine will also host several discipline- or site-specific residencies throughout 2023. These include the Atlantic-Pacific Artist Line (a customized residency for artists and writers aboard a French container ship), “Inhabiting the Desert,” a month-long residency in Marfa supporting creative reflection on the challenges of preserving a habitable world, and residencies specifically crafted for classical musicians/composers, designers, and more.  

Professional exchange and grant programs for French and France-based creatives

Dovetailing with the French government’s declaration of increased support for the field of design at home and abroad, in 2024 Villa Albertine will significantly increase the scope of Oui Design!, in partnership with the Mobilier national. Expanding from a curated path of open studios, designer talks, exhibitions, and exclusive events celebrating French-American collaboration during NYCxDesign, this year the program debuts new grants supporting the exhibition of French design in New York galleries, as well as grants enabling French designers and craftspeople to travel to New York for workshop and factory visits, and meetings with professionals and major institutions. Soon, Oui Design! will also offer opportunities for short, medium, and long-term exploratory residencies in French workshops and factories for American designers, architects, and interior designers. The call for applications for Oui Design! is open now.

In January, Villa Albertine will kick off its literary season with the Albertine Translation Fund and Prizes ceremony, honoring the best contemporary French literature in English translation. The Villa’s two other signature literary awards, the US Goncourt Prize Selection and the Prix Albertine Jeunesse, will be awarded in the spring.

States, a magazine and podcast

This month Villa Albertine will launch the second volume of its annual print ‘bookazine’ dedicated to exchange in arts and ideas. This year States asks, “Are We Done with France?” and features two dozen commissioned articles and 100+ original illustrations from intellectuals, writers, artists, and investigators who place their love, grievances, and passions under the analytical lens. This issue of States was made possible thanks to the support of Albertine Foundation and Albertine Books Foundation, with special gratitude to Sana Sabbagh.

Villa Albertine 2024 Programming Highlights

Launch of States vol.2: January 2024
The new print issue of States, which asks “Are we Done with France?” will be available at Albertine Books in New York City and online at albertine.com starting mid-January.

Albertine Translation Fund and Prizes Ceremony – January 25, 2024
Two French language books, one fiction and one non-fiction, will be selected for the prize, which honors the best contemporary French literature in English translation. Another 20+ French-language works will receive grants to support publication costs and translation.

Night of Ideas: February 23 – March 3, 2024
The free annual nocturnal marathon of philosophical debates, performances, readings, and more, will be hosted in 20 cities across the country and explore the theme “Outside the Lines.”

Author tours: February – May 2024

• Mathias Énard — The Annual Banquet of The Gravediggers’ Guild (Le banquet annuel de la confrérie des fossoyeurs, Actes Sud; trans. by Frank Wyne, New Directions, 2023). February 12 – 17 in New York City and Boston.
• Sibylle Gollac and Céline Bessière — The Gender of Capital (Le genre du capital, La Découverte; trans. by Juliette Rogers, Harvard University Press, 2023). February 24 – March 2 in New York City and Boston.
• David Diop — Beyond the Door of No Return (La porte du voyage sans retour, Seuil; trans. by Sam Taylor, Macmillan, 2023). April in several cities along the East Coast.
• Marie Darrieussecq — Sleepless: A Memoir of Insomnia (Pas dormir, P.O.L.; trans. by Penny Hueston, Semiotext(e), 2023). April in Cincinnati, New York City, Providence.
• Delphine Horvilleur — Living with our Dead: On Loss and Consolation (Vivre avec nos morts : petit traité de consolation, Grasset; trans. by Lisa Appignanesi, Europa Editions, 2024). April and May in in numerous cities across the United States.
• Jakuta Alikavazovic — Like A Sky Inside (Comme un ciel en nous, Stock; trans. by Daniel Levin Becker, Fern Books, 2024). May in San Francisco, Washington DC, New York City.

Heritage Speaks: March – June 2024
This series tackles the myriad threats to the preservation of cultural heritage with solutions-oriented discussions between leaders in the field of conservation and preservation.

US Goncourt Prize Selection April 2024
For the third annual US Goncourt Prize Selection, a jury of American students from 10 universities will gather in New York to deliberate and announce their selection for the United States’ winner of France’s most prestigious literary award, the 2024 Choix Goncourt.

Oui Design! May 15 – 22, 2024
During NYCxDesign, this festival of artist visits, open studios, designer talks, exhibitions, and exclusive events will celebrate the rich tradition of collaboration between the French and American design scenes, and significantly raise the visibility of up-and-coming French designers and artisans who will be on-site with the support of new grants.

2025 residencies announcement: Spring 2024
50 global creators, researchers, and culture professionals will be selected for Villa Albertine’s 2025 exploratory residency program.

Prix Albertine Jeunesse: June 2024
Villa Albertine’s annual reader’s choice award for the best French children’s book in English translation returns in June. Throughout the year, kids in schools across the country will read and discuss the nominees to help inform their selection.
Co-organized with  Albertine Books, the AEFE and the Cultural Services of the Embassies of France in the US and Canada.

Films on the Green: March – September 2024
Films on the Green, the free French film festival in public parks across the country, will present lineups dedicated to the theme of ‘Sports in Film’, reflecting the excitement of the Olympic Games in Paris. Dates and film selections will be announced this spring for New York City, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, and Houston.

Other 2024 season highlights
Villa Albertine’s cultural exchange initiative City/Cité, which uses the arts to facilitate multidimensional dialogues on urban issues, will be back in the fall of 2024 following successful runs in Chicago, Atlanta, and San Francisco.

This year Villa Albertine will also renew many of its successful and growing professional exchange programs, including Sounds of New York for emerging podcasters, Museums Next Generation for rising-star curators, and Boulevard des Series for high-potential screenwriters.

Finally, 2024 will also mark the 30^th anniversary of the institution’s ongoing grant programs Étant Donnés Contemporary Art and FUSED – French-US Exchange in Dance. A celebration for these anniversaries will be planned later in the year.

Villa Albertine is an institution of the Embassy of France in the United States and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, developed in partnership with Albertine Foundation, with support from the French Ministry of Culture and the Institut Français. Villa Albertine is particularly thankful for the leadership support of Societe Generale, Ford Foundation, Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation, Recanati-Kaplan Foundation, Ardian, AXA, the Florence Gould Endowment for Literary Exchange, the Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation, Engie Foundation, the Louis Roederer Foundation, Van Cleef and Arpels, the Fonds de dotation Banque Transatlantique, and institutional and individual partners.