Curatorial research grants (France)
Application deadline: August 31, 2015
bourse-curatoriale.cnap [at] culture.gouv.fr
The Centre national des arts plastiques (National Centre of Visual Arts, CNAP) is awarding two curatorial research grants in 2015. The purpose of these grants is to enable two curators to develop a research project around the CNAP collection over the course of a three month residency in Paris.
The Fonds national d’art contemporain is France’s state-owned collection of modern and contemporary art. Works have been acquired from living artists for more than 220 years. The collection has been expanded through purchases, gifts and commissions and currently holds over 95,000 works.
The CNAP manages and displays this collection. It also plays an active role in its constitution. Works are acquired not to form a collection in the museum sense, around a single historical period or theme. The purpose is instead to assemble a collection that is representative of contemporary creation in all its forms, and constitutes a narrative for our era.
The CNAP expresses the diversity of artistic practices today, across generations and nationalities. It seeks out and supports young artists, as well as adding to groups of works by established artists and creators through the acquisition of recent productions.
The collection is divided into chronological sections—historical (1791–1904), modern (1905–1960) and contemporary (post-1961)—and categorized by media (in particular, graphic art and post-1980 video and photography).
The collection is unique in Europe for its size and scope. It opens important possibilities to experiment with new curatorial strategies and to envisage the collection from its most experimental dimension, from its earliest to its most contemporary elements.
The grant invites candidates to conduct research on contemporary issues during a three month residency at the CNAP. Projects must demonstrate an experimental and innovative aspect. They can focus on a period, a geographic region or, alternatively, take an interdisciplinary approach. Projects will be judged for their originality and novel curatorial approach.
Selected candidates will be encouraged to work with the CNAP’s team, and will be given the opportunity to explore all available documentary resources.
At the end of the residency, candidates are invited to present the outcome of their research. This can be a publication, a symposium, lectures, workshops, an exhibition or take any other physical or virtual form. These outcomes will be the subject of exchanges with the CNAP’s team and receive specific funding.
Application requirements and conditions
The call for projects is open to anyone with experience as a curator.
The successful candidates will each receive a grant of 9,000 EUR covering travel, accommodation and living expenses.
Candidates will implement their project over three months, between October 2015 and March 2016, as a consecutive period or in several sessions, as agreed with the CNAP teams.
Groups can submit a project but only one grant will be awarded.
Projects must be original and have never been previously published or produced.
The majority of documentation will be in French. Candidates must therefore be fluent in French. Selected candidates will be auditioned around mid-September by a jury comprising members of the CNAP scientific team and specialists in the fields of art and research.
Application documents
Candidates are invited to submit their project by post to the following address:
Bourse Curatoriale–Appel à Projet 2015
Centre national des arts plastiques
1 Place de la Pyramide
Tour Atlantique
92911 Paris La Défense
France
Applications must include:
–an outline of the project and the body of works involved (15,000 characters)
–a planned timetable
–a curriculum vitae presenting training, research and professional experience
–a representative selection of projects in the proposed field of research
The closing date for applications is August 31, 2015.
For any further information, please write to: bourse-curatoriale.cnap [at] culture.gouv.fr
