Villa Medici hosts residents for stays that can last up to a year. During their stay, residents have the time and space to fully focus on their practice and research, with no obligations to produce works. Villa Medici is a refuge that nurtures creative work, but at the same time, a place open to the city, ideal for interdisciplinary encounters. The coexistence of different disciplines often brings about fruitful collaborations and exchanges. Villa Medici welcomes residents for various periods of time (the Medici Residencies), and fellows selected by open-call for one-year residencies, a legacy of the famous Prix de Rome created in 1666.
The Fellows
Each year, sixteen fellows are selected through a competition involving nearly 900 applicants to complete a twelve-month creative, experimental and research residency at Villa Medici, from September to August. Candidates are selected on the basis of their applications, which may be followed by an audition before a panel of qualified experts, where appropriate. The competition is open to established artists, writers and researchers of any nationality and age. The only condition is that the participant must be a francophone. Applications are accepted from all artistic disciplines, including music, literature, architecture, design, plastic and visual arts, choreography, theater directing, arts and crafts, as well as art historical research and restoration.
During their stay at the Academy, fellows may be accompanied by their family members and receive a grant for room and board and work space, as well as artistic and technical support from Academy teams. They are encouraged to participate in community life and cultural programming, and are regularly invited to meet art professionals from all backgrounds.
Each year in the summer, Villa Medici organizes a group exhibition and curates a publication on the projects of the sixteen fellows after their year of residency. The works move out of the intimacy of the studios and into the exhibition halls, where they can be appreciated by the public. The fellows are accompanied by a curator and have are supported in producing their works.
The Residencies
Villa Medici welcomes artists, writers and researchers throughout the year for periods ranging from two weeks to a year, as part of thematic residency or partnership programs. Applications are evaluated by a qualified jury. Each year, these programs offer dozens of artists, writers and researchers the opportunity to develop a specific research, experimental or creative project. A wide range of disciplines are represented, from visual arts to art history, comics, virtual reality, crafts and culinary practices.
Villa Medici, resident’s guide
Fellows and residents are housed in accommodation located throughout the gardens of Villa Medici, notably in pavilions designed in the 1950s by architect Jacques Carlu, himself a former fellow. They have access to several communal areas, including a library containing almost 38,000 volumes, a sound and video studio, a joinery and a photo lab. At Villa Medici, there is a lounge is reserved for them, specifically for their professional meetings, while the cafeteria area is a great place to meet and share meals with the teams and people from the world of culture visiting Villa Medici. Throughout the year, residents and fellows can also take advantage of Villa Medici’s program of exhibitions, festivals and cultural events.
