The Fonds national d’art contemporain is France’s state-owned collection of modern and contemporary art acquired from living artists over the past 225 years. Today’s collection, assembled from purchases, gifts and commissions, holds over 100,000 artworks that the Cnap is responsible for enriching, conserving and distributing in France and overseas.
The Cnap aims to form a collection that is forward-looking and representative of contemporary creation in all its diversity, a collection that recounts the sweeping narratives of our era and documents the evolution of the art scene. In this respect it is different from a museum whose purpose is to compile a collection around a specific historical period, theme or narrative.
The Cnap embraces the diversity of today’s artistic practices, across different generations and nationalities. It seeks out and supports young artists while also acquiring recent works to expand the collections representing established artists and designers.
The collection is organised into different categories, which can designate a period—historical (1791–1904), modern (1905–60) or contemporary (post–1961)—or a medium, ranging from graphic art and video and photography to design and decorative arts.
One of a kind in Europe for its size and historical scope, the Cnap collection provides an opportunity to experiment with fresh curatorial strategies.
The grant invites candidates to conduct research on the latest contemporary issues and use the Cnap collection as a source, a medium and an instrument.
It is also an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge on the collection. Candidates are asked to single out corpora, lines of force, or collections with conceptual, historic, critical or other thematic link.
Proposed projects must demonstrate an experimental and innovative approach. They can focus on a period, geographical location or, alternatively, take an interdisciplinary approach. Projects will be judged for the originality of the subject, method and references.
Selected candidates will be encouraged to work with the Cnap’s scientific team and will be given the opportunity to explore all of the Cnap’s document resources.
This research can lead, with the Cnap’s agreement, to a presentation of the research findings.
Application terms and conditions
Successful candidates will each receive a grant of 7,000 EUR to cover all travel, accommodation and living expenses during the research period.
Groups are welcome to submit a project but only one grant will be awarded.
Projects must be original and never have been previously published or produced.
Most of the documentation provided will be in French. Proficiency in French is strongly recommended for candidates.
Selected candidates will be interviewed in early December by a jury comprising members of the Cnap scientific team and prominent figures in the fields of art and research.
The residencies will begin in the first half of 2018 and run until autumn 2018 based on a timetable agreed with the Cnap team depending on the availability of both residents and Cnap staff.
Applications
Candidates are asked to submit their project by email to the address below:
Applications must include:
–an outline of the research project and the body of works to be included (10,000 characters max.)
–a planned timetable
–a curriculum vitae presenting the applicant’s education, past research and experience
–a representative selection of completed projects
To support their research, candidates are welcome to use the Cnap online collection database that lists nearly 85,000 out of the 100,000 works acquired by the state since 1791. It is regularly updated and can be viewed here.
The final deadline for applications is November 19, 2017.
For further information, please write to .