Application Deadline: March 10, 2023
Each year, in partnership with the Ford Foundation, Villa Albertine welcomes five thinkers, creators, or culture professionals from the African continent to complete a residency in the US. The five laureates, selected out of the current call for applications, will get the opportunity to complete a two-month exploratory residency in a US city in 2024. This residency program aims to promote unique creative voices and practices from Africa with the potential to shed light on major contemporary issues, as well as open up new perspectives in the US and France.
Villa Albertine is looking for creators, researchers, and culture professionals from across the African continent who wish to conduct an original research project requiring an immersive stay in the US.
Requirements:
- Applicants must be citizens of an African country, and their professional activity must be based primarily in Africa.
- In order to be able to communicate with professionals in the US, applicants must speak fluent English. As such, they are required to submit a three-minute video in which they introduce themselves and their project in English. Fluency in French is not required.
- Applicants must be at least 21 years of age prior to their estimated residency start date.
- This call is open to individual applications only; collective group applications shall not be accepted.
- Current health regulations require all non-American citizens traveling to the US to have had at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccination. Applicants must comply with US entry regulations.
Benefits
Thanks to the financial support of the Ford Foundation, Villa Albertine is able to cover the following travel and living expenses for each residency:
- a residency allowance to cover everyday expenses (meals, local transport, etc.), based on the average cost of living for each of the ten geographical areas where Villa Albertine has a branch;
- a round trip to the US from the resident’s home country;
- accommodation;
- health, civil liability, and repatriation insurance;
- and any necessary visa fees.
Villa Albertine cannot undertake to cover spending other than the aforementioned travel costs and living expenses.
Five two-month city-based residencies in 2024
This program shall select five two-month residencies that each focus on a particular US city.
Villa Albertine has permanent offices in ten cities (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Washington DC), each one being active across a broader geographical area, as indicated on the map below.
Applicants are asked to submit a two-month residency project that is rooted in a specific US city, to be chosen either from one of the ten cities in which Villa Albertine has established a permanent branch, or another US city.
Application process
Applications shall be submitted by email to the following email address no later than 11:59 p.m. (Paris time) on March 10, 2023:
applications@villa-albertine.org
Applicants are required to write their applications in English.
Applications must include the five following elements:
1. A completed applicant information form, which may be downloaded via this link;
2. A presentation of the applicant’s career and work in PDF format, limited to ten pages and 8 MB (e.g. résumé and summary of a small selection of completed projects), including a statement indicating whether the applicant holds a driver’s license;
3. A three-minute video of the applicant speaking in English – The video link must be shared on a PDF document. In the video, the applicant should introduce themselves and their project, without reading from a prepared text. It must be uploaded as an “unlisted” video on a platform such as YouTube or Vimeo, available to view only by those who have the required link. If the applicant decides to protect their video with a password, this should be provided with the application;
4. A presentation of the proposed residency project in PDF, limited to two pages – The applicants must indicate the city where they wish to complete their residency;
5. A letter from the chosen residency partner, signed and addressed to the Director of Villa Albertine – This letter should outline how the partner intends to support the residency. If the applicant has chosen several partners, each partner must submit a letter.
Applicants shall be notified at the end of May whether their application has been successful.
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the Villa Albertine Residency Program 2023/2024