More than three centuries after the creation of the Académie de France in 1666 in Rome, which has since become the Villa Medici, the French government has just announced the creation of a new haven of peace for artists: the Villa Albertine, in the States -United.
This institution, which will be launched in the fall, will allow French creators “to explore American realities” but also to “influence the way in which our culture is perceived in the United States”, explained the French minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, by unveiling the project this Friday at the Quai d’Orsay. Paris thus hopes to extend its soft power across the Atlantic, while the United States is turning more and more towards Asia, underlines The world. The Villa Albertine intends to “bring the new transatlantic momentum to the field of culture and ideas” after the “misunderstandings” of the Trump era, summed up the minister.
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“If there is a country which occupies the place that Italy occupied in the 17th century, it is the United States”, noted for his part Gaëtan Bruel, director of the Villa Albertine, whose name refers to one of Proust’s “young girls in bloom”.
Ten different places
France will thus have four artistic residencies, in Rome, Madrid (Casa Velázquez, inaugurated in 1928), Kyoto (Villa Kujoyama, 1992) and the Villa Albertine in the United States. But for the latter, the model is reinvented: it will be held simultaneously in ten American cities. Ten places symbolizing American diversity and drawing on French cultural networks in the United States: New York, Washington, Boston, Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“Residents will be more immersed in the places that welcome them”, indicates the French Ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne. Exit therefore the prestigious setting of the Villa Medici, with 16th century palace, park and Italian garden, sometimes considered too elitist and too far removed from reality: residents will be “outside the walls”.
In Los Angeles, they will be hosted by Hollywood producers and major art collectors. In New York, they will choose the district and the type of place (workshop, exhibition space, etc.) in which they wish to immerse themselves. The writer Constance Debré, who will carry out an investigation into the American counter-culture, will thus reside in a New York apartment. Photographer Nicolas Floc’h, who focuses on the representation of water, will explore the Mississippi and its changing colors aboard a boat.
Stays of one to three months
Quentin Zuttion, comic book author, has chosen a roaming by train from New York to Los Angeles to paint a portrait of the new American youth. “It’s a huge gift, blessed bread,” said the designer, who will make his “road trip” in April-May 2022 around the figure of the “Prom Queen”, the prom queen, elected by his fellow students at the end of their university cycle
Three other artists, visual artist Josefa Njtam, double bass player Sélène Saint-Aimé and Franco-Senegalese director Alain Gomia, will sign this inaugural season of the Villa Albertine. Sélène Saint-Aimé explained that she wanted to do “research, composition and creation” work in New Orleans to “strengthen the links” between jazz and Caribbean music, where she is from.
There will be 60 term residents, for stays of one to three months and an average cost of 20,000 euros, or a budget of 1.2 million per year, co-financed by private sponsorship, including the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation. The Villa Albertine will also offer around fifteen support programs for museum curators, screenwriters, video game writing or the promotion of French digital creation in the United States.
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