Open Call for Curators at Fondation Fiminco

The Fondation Fiminco has rehabilitated a former industrial site in Romainville to turn it into a space that acts as a resource for international artists and curators. Designed above all for artists, this place provides them with spaces, tools, and professional support to create a working environment that encourages exchange between different artforms and the expansion of their practice. With production workshops for construction, ceramics, 3D printing, engraving, silk screen, photography, video, and graphics, the Fondation Fiminco residency is a genuine hub of contemporary creation.

The aim of the Foundation is not to build up and display a collection, but to support the residents throughout their creative process, accompanying their professional and artistic development. By relying on the multidisciplinary nature of art forms and research, the Fondation Fiminco also intends to create connections between different art scenes and offer curators in residence the opportunity to situate their work in other creative contexts.

The Fondation Fiminco is launching an open call for international curators for a 3-month curatorial residency based in Romainville (Seine-Saint-Denis). Two residency periods are on offer: mid-January to mid-April 2023 and mid-April to mid-July 2023.

The residency programme is open to curators living in France and abroad, with no age limit, who can demonstrate an emerging or established professional career. This call is part of the dynamic of the Fondation Fiminco’s artist residency programme, which hosts 12 international artists concurrently for 11 months, from September 2022 to July 2023, as well as one-off residency programmes in collaboration with institutional partners around the world.

The primary objective of the residency is to prove the curators with the ideal setting for their research and creative work. A furnished individual studio equipped with an internet connection will be made available. They will also have access to kitchens and communal living spaces, as well as conditions facilitating collaboration with other residents and with external organizations. The Fondation Fiminco’s residency is intended to be a place of professionalization that helps artists and curators gain visibility in the French art scene and become part of a network. The curators will be accompanied by the Foundation’s team throughout the residency.

• In addition to their own research project, candidates must be involved in the Fondation Fiminco’s cultural programme and propose ideas based on two key events: The organization of an Open Studio with the artists in residence (February or May, depending on the chosen residency period), allowing the public to discover, over an entire day, the workshops and creative spaces of the artists and the curator in residence.
• The organization of another event (such as a conference, portfolio review, performance, meetings with professionals from the art world, etc.). The research should take into account the links with the proposed research project and the artistic environment of the residents of the Fondation Fiminco. The proposed project may also develop links with other international art scenes.

These events will be organized and approved in close consultation with the Foundation’s team (context, budget, production, communication, and mediation). Candidates undertake to design and write one or more presentation texts and to be present at both events.

Support:

• Resident curators will have a furnished studio with a private bathroom (between 20 and 25m2), a shared kitchen, and common living areas.
• In order to support the research projects of the curators in residence, a research grant of a total amount of 5,000 euros (including VAT) will be awarded for the duration of the residency.
• The Fondation Fiminco supports the curators in their administrative procedures: such as visa applications and, if necessary, can guide them in their search for additional grants.
• Residents receive professional support according to their needs and in line with the project they wish to develop research support, distribution and communication support (individual videos presenting the curators and their research / work in progress).
• To facilitate mobility, the Fondation Fiminco will pay for a return trip to and from the curator’s country of residence. The funding is subject to a ceiling depending on the place of residence and the reimbursement must be accompanied by supporting documents in the curator’s name (train or plane ticket, fuel costs, tolls, etc.). Maximum transport reimbursement: 300 € round trip in Europe 800 € return outside of Europe.
• French language courses are available to international curators to facilitate their integration and exchanges.

The application can be written in English or French and must be exported as a single PDF file. Applicants should indicate their preferred period of residency: mid-January to mid-April 2023 or mid-April to mid-July 2023. The application must be sent by e-mail to the following address: [email protected] before midnight on December 8, 2022.

Your application should be in the following order:

MANDATORY DOCUMENTS (if the application does not contain these elements, it will not be considered):

• CV in which candidates should mention their educational and professional background (maximum 2 pages).
• A letter of intent presenting the research project and programming ideas that the candidates wish to implement during the 3-month residency. Applicants are encouraged to propose a project in relation to the local area and its audience (institutions, associations, communities), and researchers based in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis and in Paris (2 pages maximum).
• One or more letters of recommendation addressed to the jury, supporting the candidates for the specific project presented in the application file (3 pages maximum).
• A file presenting one or more recent projects representative of the curator’s approach (10 pages maximum).

OPTIONAL DOCUMENTS

• Links, publications, videos.Any document that the applicants consider useful to communicate to the selection committee in the form of web links (participation in conferences or symposiums, press articles, films, interviews, etc.)