What is the Nouveau Grand Tour?
The Nouveau Grand Tour is a research-oriented programme designed for professionalisation of emerging Europeans artists, supported by a network of sixty artistic residencies in France, Italy and the Netherlands. Indeed, the first years following graduation constitute a critical period for young artists, who need extra support to build long lasting professional ties outside of their immediate surroundings. Therefore, the programme gives time and space to selected residents to research, reflect and connect with fellow artists and local institutions.
Raison d’être
The Nouveau Grand Tour is a modern reinterpretation of the eighteenth-century Grand Tour tradition. This new version of the Grand Tour is the starting point of something new, incubating new visions and creations through European mobilities. This mobility differs greatly from the previous Grand Tour as a rite of passage, designed for young men of Northern Europe’s high society. Indeed, it answers artists’ contemporary needs in their career building. First, the Nouveau Grand Tour offers an immersion in some of the most innovative European artistic programmes, all driven by a will to renew artistic practices. Second, it connects artists with one another through joint workshops and a growing alumni network. Third, it sustains links with communities and various local entities in the cultural field of different countries with which residents will develop bonds, work with and be inspired by.
Therefore, by including all sorts of artists and makers, the Nouveau Grand Tour intends to be an incubator of new and critical visions, to help implement sustainable and participative practices, and to facilitate alternative modes of production and creation. The Nouveau Grand Tour will accompany upcoming generations of artists in the deconstruction and rebuilding of art history and creative practices in Europe.
A program in the making
The Nouveau Grand Tour was initiated by the Institut français Italia. In 2022, the first edition welcomed 50 young artists from France, Germany and Ukraine in 25 Italian partnered residencies. For the second edition, in 2023, 25 French residencies joined the network, and welcomed 50 artists from Italy. Welcoming around 20 artists from France, ten Dutch residences join the Nouveau Grand Tour network for the third edition in 2024, giving the programme a wide European dimension. The programme is funded by public entities and by several private sponsors.
Why is this programme for you?
This experience aims to boost your career and creativity by providing a support network, an inter- disciplinary approach and annual gatherings, both national and European. First, you will be supported in your artistic research and creative process by being given time and space to develop bold initiatives, to slow down your production, find inspiration, and develop your thinking. Second, the residencies’ settings will connect you with peers, institutions, and local ecosystems you will be part of during your stay. Third, you will form with your fellow residents a cohort on both national and European levels. These cohorts are meant to help each other, reflect and research together. Moreover, your experience as a Nouveau Grand Tour resident does not stop at the end of your stay, but you will become part of an overall alumni group in the idea of creating a vast European support system.
Concretely, what does it look like in the Netherlands?
The residencies features vary depending on the welcoming institutions: from stay duration to number of fellow residents, from urban centres or rural environments to well-established ones or created for the occasion. Each year, the new cohort is composed of artists from various creative disciplines, making it a multi-disciplinary programme: curatorship, visual arts (painting, sculpture, drawing), cultural and creative industries (music and sound creation, digital culture, design, architecture and landscape) and art crafts.
- Batavierhuis, Rotterdam | musique
- Brutus, Rotterdam | arts visuels
- Buro Stedelijk, Amsterdam | recherche curatoriale
- Drawing Centre, Diepenheim | arts visuels
- EKWC, Oisterwijk | métier d’art
- Het Lage Noorden, Marrum | arts visuels
- NIAS, Amsterdam | recherche curatoriale
- Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam | cultures numériques
- Willem Twee, Den Bosch | musique
- Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum | musique
The programme includes:
- Reimbursement of back-and-forth journey France – Netherlands;
- Provision of a living place;
- Living allowance (€1,000/month per person calculated on a pro rata basis for the duration of theresidency);
- Production grant of up to €500/project upon presentation of supporting documents at the end ofthe residency;
- Access to rehearsal rooms, studios, workshops, specific equipment and curatorial and/ortechnical support, depending on the residence
Criteria
- No older than 30 years old on December 31st, 2023 and/or graduated with an art degree within the5 years prior to the application (for 2024, the diploma must have been delivered between 2019 and 2023). A temporary measure to answer artists’ needs after the Covid-19 crisis allows graduates from 2017 to apply;
- Be of French nationality or be a resident in France for at least the last three years;
- Be able to provide proof of civil liability insurance;
- Be able to speak English or Dutch.
Selection process
Applications must be submitted in English. Please send your application by email attaching all the required documents in PDF format, without merging them to culture@institutfrancais.nl. WeTransfer can be used if necessary, by sending the download link by email.
Your application must include:
- A CV;
- A portfolio of artistic works;
- A personal and project statement specifying the desired residencies, explaining the reasons for applying for a residency in the Netherlands and, where appropriate, indicating some avenues for research and work;
- A copy of your diploma, if you are more than 30 years old;
- A copy of your ID;
- The completed application form (you can download it here)
- Optional: a recommendation letter from a cultural institution (art school, museum or exhibition space, gallery, curator, programmer, etc.)
Who will select you?
Concerning the Nouveau Grand Tour in the Netherlands, the jury is composed of leading French and Dutch figures from the cultural sphere.
- Hester Alberdingk Thijm, Director, AkzoNobel Art Foundation, The Netherlands
- Nanda Janssen, Independent Art Curator, The Netherlands / France
- Audrey Bazin, Director, Foundation Louis Roederer, France
- Bronne Keesmaat, Artistic and General Director, Rewire Festival
- Peggy Szkudlarek, Project Manager, Dif Productions, France
The jury will shortlist candidates, and the final selection is made by residencies representatives. This means that your personal and project statement needs to be aligned with the residencies’ projects proposed by the residencies.
What will be your obligations as residents?
Selected artists must:
- Return a signed copy of the agreement before their departure (without this document we will notbe able to consider any payment);
- Carry out the residency for the duration stipulated in the agreement;
- Send a report at the end of the residence to Institut français NL;
- Take part in various events and exchanges organised by the residency and/or the IFNL (meetingswith the public and school groups, presentations of work, participation in meetings of the otherartists on the programme).
- Provide images (photo and video material) and text for social media about the residency.
Edition 2024
- Application deadline: January 12, 2024, at 17:00
- Publication of application outcomes:
Early February 2024 - Incomplete applications will not be processed.
Contacts :
Eva Monnier
Attachée culturelle adjointe
Bernadette Sayar
Chargée de mission culture
Send your application to: culture@institutfrancais.nl
Partenaires
- Co-organisé par : Institut français NL, Stichting France Nederland Cultuurfonds, Vriendenlotterij
- Initié par : Institut français Italie