PK1 RD22
97360 MANA
French Guiana

chercheursdart4@gmail.com Further information

Residency opportunity 'Design, Furniture, Wood'

Centre d'Art et de Recherche de Mana (CARMA) offers a 5-week residency for visual artists in French Guyana.
 

The association, Chercheurs d'art, proposes a residency of 4 to 5 weeks at the Centre d'Art et de Recherche de Mana (CARMA), in French Guyana, around the theme 'design, furniture, wood'. The residency is aimed at professional or emerging visual artists working in the field of wood sculpture and/or furniture, design, cabinet making. Deadline for applications: September 10, 2021.

Chercheurs d'art & the art and research centre of Mana
Based in Western French Guyana, the association Chercheurs d'art (CHE), has been working since 1994 to enhance and promote local, national and international artistic creation in all its diversity. For that, its founders and members underline the importance to blend and to set dialogue between the so-called "traditional" arts and contemporary art. This in order to open up creative paths that go beyond conventional classifications - primitive, ethnic, decorative, contemporary, academic, etc.

It is in this spirit that the Art and Research Center of Mana (CARMA) was inaugurated in 2014, with the objective of developing and promoting the arts of French Guyana, placing the artists and their productions at the center of various events. The birth of this space has then allowed the deployment of a vast field of actions: artistic creation and diffusion, cross-residencies of artists, educational workshops, publishing and publications.

CARMA is one of the few places dedicated to contemporary creation in French Guyana through a strong involvement in the educational and tourist fields. An important collection of art objects is used for relevant and experimental scenographies in connection with the social configurations of the country and the greater region. CARMA is in the process of becoming the first Contemporary Art Center of National Interest in the French Overseas Territories (CACIN label). Read more about the ongoing and upcoming programmes here.

Residences at CARMA
One of the goals of CARMA is to promote, close to a place of contemporary creation, the know-how, the patrimonial and 'traditional' practices of a still dynamic rural society. The contemporary practice draws from these proximities, its essence, its coherence, its relevance, its anchoring. These meetings between Guyanese and foreign artists and creators allow each one to reinvest creation centers, alternative or innovative practices, to cross the glances and the perspectives.

Residency 'Design, Furniture, Wood'
The resident undertakes to meet all the objectives of the residency. To this end, he/she will work in close collaboration with the CARMA team and its institutional partners. The objectives are:

- To allow a French or foreign artist to carry out a research project related to Guyanese vernacular practices in the field of sculpture, design and cabinet making.
- To create an exchange with the sculptors, woodcutters and lumberjacks of La Route de l’art (The Art Road). Several roadside woodcutters offer to the public, consumers of art creations, remarkable pieces of wood cut into slices or trays in rich and colorful species. Attempts to make pieces of furniture with a raw design are not very successful due to a lack of technical means and a lack of openness to the market of furniture creation. Tables, pedestal tables, benches, armchairs, lights, shelves and other furniture could be designed with simple and efficient techniques of execution. It is proposed to the invited designer to elaborate with these isolated and precariously installed sawyers, a collection of interior objects with a modest tooling and basic materials (flat or round irons, hardware, bolts...)
- To produce a line of prototypes with variations as well as works that could be integrated into future seasons of CARMA (Garnished altars, Memories of Guiana).
- To encourage the meeting of artists with the inhabitants of the region and the users of CARMA.
- To participate in weekends dedicated to La Route de l’art (The Art Road), an artistic and tourist route that highlights the know-how of West French Guiana's artists-artisans.

Conditions
The selected candidate will be granted a residency period of four to five weeks beginning October 11, 2021. If the candidate is not available for this exact period, he/she may specify in his/her application the dates on which he/she could be available in replacement of the planned period, knowing that the period must include 15 days of school vacations. If the artist wishes, the residency period may be extended for one or two weeks, in consultation with CARMA.

The resident agrees to present his/her work in the form of a conference at the beginning of his/her stay and to implement a workshop project with the artisans on site during his/her residency. He/she also commits to working with the public to allow them to discover his/her practice, and to participate in an event dedicated to La Route de l'art. By responding to this call for residency, he/she grants CARMA the right to present the works produced during the residency for the duration of seasons 3 and/or 4 programmed at CARMA, namely Autels Garnis and Souvenirs de Guyane, 2022-2023.

The resident will be housed in Mana in a provided accommodation. He/she will have a budget of 30€ per day of activity reimbursed upon presentation of receipts for his/her meals.

The resident will have a budget of up to 1 800 € for artistic production (equipment, materials, tools). If he/she knows his/her needs in terms of specific materials, he/she will specify it in his/her application file. Otherwise, the needs will be studied jointly on site and validated in consultation.

The resident will have a small workshop at CARMA for the duration of the residency. He/she will also be received in immersion on La Route de l’art, where the workshops of the various woodworkers and cabinetmakers are located.

At the end of the residency, CARMA may offer the artist a contract for the acquisition and transfer of exploitation rights for the entire artistic production produced during the residency for an amount ranging from 2000 € to 3000 €. This amount will be negotiated during the creation of the work(s). In the event that the residency results in one or more collective works, made jointly with local artists, this amount will be shared between the different artists involved.

How to apply
See the application form below. Interested artists must send the following elements before September 10, 2021:

  • Detailed resume
  • Application letter (4000 characters maximum)
  • Folder presenting the candidate's background, creative approach and containing any visual document allowing to understand the artistic approach of the candidate (20 pages maximum)
  • Application form completed and signed with acceptance of the conditions of the residency
  • A valid driver's license is required

 

Only complete applications will be considered. Applications should be sent by email in pdf format to the following address: chercheursdart4@gmail.com

Read more about the terms and conditions, and how to apply for participation, on the website of CARMA: http://chercheursdart-carma.fr

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