OPEN CALL – Artists residency “art nouveau as a new eutopia”

01/05/2024 > 31/05/2024

In a global context of human disconnection from nature and questions about social inequalities in our societies and access to culture and heritage for all, Art Nouveau, as a major European architectural movement of the 20th century, offers a stimulating and fruitful perspective for rethinking the links between art, heritage and citizens. 

Through the European project ‘Art Nouveau as a New EUtopia’ (New EUtopia), the Réseau Art Nouveau Network (RANN) and its partners want to invite contemporary artists from all disciplines (visual artists, writers, musicians, choreographers, etc.) to reinterpret Art Nouveau works and their link with nature through the prism of the past and the present. New EUtopia stimulates them to propose original creations that enter into dialogue with this Art Nouveau heritage without copying or pastiche. Between 2024 and 2025, five of RANN’s European partner cities will be setting up six artists’ residencies: Aveiro in Portugal, Brussels (two venues) and Mons in Belgium, Nancy in France and Oradea in Romania. These residencies are taking place in emblematic Art Nouveau sites, often house museums, which are intimate places and are sometimes true portraits of the people who commissioned them. The residence is organised around these houses and their natural surroundings, taking into account the specific features of each location, which is often listed as a ‘Monument Historique’ or protected monument.

These houses are examples of the modernity of the period, of an avant-garde art of living, of the desire for unity in art, and of a strong interest in nature, the arts, science and technology. They also reflect the singular personality of their commissioners and their relationship with Art Nouveau and nature. As utopia and progress are also central to our New EUtopia project, the artist residency will focus on these themes to generate a variety of works that can be presented in the intimacy of these exceptional Art Nouveau sites.

Applications due:

31 May 2024

The project and its partners:

As a significant European heritage style that paved the way for the emergence of modern architecture in Europe, Art Nouveau is the key to better apprehending and exploring the connections between heritage and sustainability and between man and nature, yesterday as today.

AN as a New EUtopia proposes a journey until 2027 to explore the active role of Art Nouveau today and to reinvent itself in the light of sustainable development. This is done through innovative ways to generate public awareness through a Creative Europe programme made of training opportunities around restoration for professionals, residencies for artists, new pedagogical approaches, as well as ambitious public events. The project provides elements of answers to address contemporary needs faced by cultural heritage today: environmental, educational and social. Its objectives coincide with the needs of professionals and audiences, from artists to architects or house owners, or young and elderly people.

Led by the Réseau Art Nouveau Network (RANN), the project brings together 12 partners : RANN (Belgium); Horta Museum (Belgium); Foundation Maison Léon Losseau (Belgium); urban.brussels (Belgium); Alcoy’s City Hall (Spain); City Museum of Aveiro (Portugal); Museum of Applied Arts Budapest (Hungary); National Museum of Slovenia (Slovenia); Lviv Heritage Bureau (Ukraine); Museum of l’École de Nancy and Villa Majorelle (France); Foundation for the Protection of Historical Monuments in Bihor County – Oradea Heritage (Romania); Riga Art Nouveau Centre (Latvia). 

Your role as an artist in this project:

The work you will create has to establish a particular relationship with the house of the residency and its challenges, including its natural environment, such as its garden. Your proposal will also need to take into consideration the public/audience as part of a dynamic for developing public awareness: your role is also to arouse curiosity about these houses with a fresh perspective.

The residency’s outcome may include one intervention, object, text, video, installation, performance, or music piece, all of which can be presented to the public. In situ interventions are feasible as long as they are developed in collaboration with the current owners of each house.

The results will also be communicated among other countries through the partners’ dissemination channels, mainly websites and social media. 

Audiovisual material will be used to document the project and the evolution of the residencies.

Houses selected for the residencies and short descriptions:

See annexes below

Selection criteria:

  • Resident in an EU country, in a non-EU participating countries in Creative Europe, or in Switzerland, UK, Ukraine, or EEA countries; 
  • Interest and/or expertise in Art Nouveau heritage;
  • Willingness to travel within Europe for a residency stay to be defined with the house owner;
  • A coherent proposal demonstrating a clear understanding of the project and its themes as well as the specific requirements of the chosen house;
  • Track record of past artistic experiences through exhibitions and other public shows. 

What we offer:

  • A residency in a unique Art Nouveau house between 2024 and 2025.
  • A public event to show your process and results to audiences.
  • Visibility for your work across Europe and international recognition.
  • A remuneration of €3,500 (TVA included).
  • Production costs covered by each house. This is discussed with the selected house depending on its available resources and the proposed project. See houses’ descriptions for more information.
  • Accommodation in the country of the residency. To be discussed with the house owner. The artist will either sleep in the house or in an accommodation nearby, depending on the house. 
  • Reimbursement of travel costs to the residency.
  • Subsistence costs.
  • Possibility of exhibitions, publications, individual or collective cultural events linked to the residency – to be considered and confirmed on a case-by-case basis with the RANN authorities. 

Timeline:

  • Deadline to submit proposals: 31 May 2024
  • Selection of the projects by : August 30th 2024. 
  • Period of the residency: End September 2024 – Mid 2025. 

How to apply:

Please send us the following 3 documents in a single PDF to  anasaneweutopia@gmail.com

  1. Your detailed CV (1-page A4) with your portfolio 
  2. Your motivation to be part of this project including your project proposal and the house you wish to work with (max 3 pages). 
  3. The application form (attached) filled in.

We look forward to discovering your proposals!

Annex 1. LAB·AN x Hôtel van Eetvelde, Brussels, Belgium

LAB-AN x Hotel van Eetvelde is

LAB-AN x Hôtel van Eetvelde is a space for reflection, mediation and promotion of Art Nouveau, offering a contemporary look at this Belgian and Brussels heritage and the themes it encompasses. This museum and interpretation centre for Art Nouveau was developed on the initiative of Urban and Patrimoine & Culture and is located at the heart of one of the jewels of Art Nouveau, designed by the architect Victor Horta and included on the UNESCO World Heritage List: the extension to the Hôtel van Eetvelde. 

On the days when it is open to the public (Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays), LAB-AN makes the Hôtel van Eetvelde, to which it was once linked, accessible to the public. This privately-owned architectural jewel has retained its former splendour, and its interior cupola is one of the finest examples of Brussels Art Nouveau. 

It occupies a prime position in a new district built in the 19th century around a series of squares that domesticated/urbanised nature for the benefit of the bourgeoisie.  

Edmond van Eetvelde, who commissioned this three-part architectural complex, was a close associate of King Leopold II when he was sovereign of the Independent State of Congo (EIC). Edmond van Eetvelde held the position of General Administrator of Foreign Affairs for the Congo Free State between 1885 and 1900. He also played a key role in organising the 1897 Universal Exhibition, at which Art Nouveau was strongly represented, but which was also a propaganda event in favour of Belgian colonisation. 

The aim of LAB-AN x Hôtel van Eetvelde is to promote and enhance Brussels’ Art Nouveau architectural, furniture and artistic heritage and initiatives, while closely studying the issues and themes associated with this artistic movement, including the questioning of Belgian colonisation and the place of women artists in late 19th-century society, and the preservation of regional heritage at a time when modern architecture was on the rise. 

Urban.brussels offers

  • A remuneration of €3500 (all taxes included)
  • Production costs can be covered up to €6500.
  • 15 days in an exceptional location between November 2024 and March 2025.
  • Accommodation in the heart of the Brussels Region’s European Quarter, in a fully equipped and furnished three-room flat located in the heart of LAB-AN, the Brussels Art Nouveau interpretation centre that houses Edmond van Eetvelde’s Art Nouveau office. Please note: There is no access for people with reduced mobility, as there are many staircases, including in the flat. 
  • A workshop based on the type of medium used by the artist.
  • Access to the museum areas of LAB-An and the Hôtel van Eetvelde during public opening hours (Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays from 10am to 5pm) 
  • Access to associations with offices on site: LAB-AN (Laboratoire Art Nouveau), RANN (Réseau Art Nouveau Network) and BAAC (Brussels African Art Center).
  • Contact with experts in Art Nouveau and colonial traces (Tervueren Museum / Museum of Natural Sciences / Horta Museum).
  • Communication in FR / NL / EN.

Urban.brussels wishes to

Welcome an artist working in any medium but whose work does not need to be anchored in the building, and who can be exhibited in areas of the building open to the public without obstructing enjoyment or viewing. 

The artist will be asked to take a critical approach to the materials and natural resources exploited by Art Nouveau and the particular link between Belgian Art Nouveau and the Congo. 

The special geographical location of the hôtel de maitre, in an area of squares, and the dialogue between this exceptional Art Nouveau building and nature is also a focus for the artists.  

Annex 2. Horta Museum, Brussels, Belgium

The Horta Museum is

located in Brussels, in the Commune of Saint-Gilles to be precise. The Horta Museum is a landmark of Brussels Art Nouveau, comprising three buildings: the architect Victor Horta’s house, his studio and the extension in the house next door. 

Built between 1898 and 1901, the house is a veritable manisfest, breaking with the traditional typology of Brussels dwellings and proposing a spatial organisation centred on the stairwells. The refined interior décor is enhanced by the influx of light, the circulation between the different spaces and the link with nature and the garden. In the studio, on the other hand, where the layout of the rooms corresponds to the Brussels tradition, the arrival of light is very well thought out, but the décor is more minimal. In 1906, the house and studio were extended towards the garden.

In 1963, the house and studio were listed in their entirety and opened to the public in 1969. Along with 3 other major houses built by Horta, the museum was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.

For more information, visit www.https//Hortamuseum.be

The Horta Museum offers

  • 10 consecutive days of residency, with a workspace made available in the draughtsmen’s room on the top floor of the studio and free access to all the conservation areas in the extension. This neighbouring building, built in the same years by another architect, houses various museum functions (entrance, ticket office, shop, temporary exhibition room, offices, library, archives).
  • The residency will be intended for the preparation and reflection of an original artistic project, but the space made available may not be used as a production space unless it can be produced on a table and without dust (digital, written, photographic, textile, work by the hand).
  • Accommodation for the rest of the stay is possible in the neighbourhood, but will be confirmed according to the residency schedule. These costs are covered.
  • Free access to the museum and gardens is possible on weekdays and weekends during opening hours. Access will be organised by the museum team to discover Horta’s other buildings (public or private).
  • A remuneration of €3500 (all taxes included) for the entire duration of the residency
  • Production costs may be agreed after discussion of the creative project, up to a maximum of €4,500 including taxes.

The Horta Museum wishes to

Welcome an artist who understands and speaks French, English, Dutch or German, the languages shared by the conservation team. It is important to take into account that the archives devoted to Victor Horta are mainly in French, while the books in our library are in many European languages.

The artists’ approach should be based on three values that are omnipresent in the museum: the work of the hand (role and presence of craftsmanship), function (function of use or utility; link with architecture or design) and the question of beauty.

The artist will have a practice linked either to architecture, the visual arts, design, photography, literature or performance, or based on the premises (including gardens), archives and collections, or combining some of these.

Annex 3. Maison Losseau, Mons, Belgium

Maison Losseau is

Located in Mons, Belgium, the Maison Losseau is a private mansion that owes a great deal to its owner, the lawyer Léon Losseau (1869 – 1949). A true master builder, he never ceased to interact with his architects, Henri Sauvage, Charles Sarrazin and above all Paul Saintenoy. The floral ornamentation of his house, furniture and personal objects bear witness to Losseau’s taste for the French style and the Nancy School. The decorations were created by the best artists and craftsmen of the time: the workshops of Raphaël Evaldre, Henri Pelseneer, Emile Gallé and the Daum Manufactory. The Maison Losseau is now on the list of Wallonia’s exceptional heritage sites. 

Carefully preserved in situ, Léon Losseau’s collections cover the vast range of his passions: photographic plates, medals, personal files, architects’ plans, richly bound books, and so on. To these can now be added the literary archives of Hainaut authors, presented in a Literature Centre. The ML also has an Interpretation Centre, temporary exhibition rooms and a beautiful town garden. Numerous activities are organised there throughout the year, including concerts, meetings and creative residencies. 

For more information, visit www.maisonlosseau.be 

Maison Losseau offers

  • Between two and four weeks (at the candidate’s discretion) of residence in a fully-equipped studio with a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. It is located on the Maison Losseau site.
  • Free access to the Art Nouveau town house, the Interpretation and Literature Centres and the garden.
  • An Internet connection, access to an electric bike, reimbursement of public transport costs in Belgium and entry tickets for museums and other cultural institutions.
  • A grant of €3,500 (all taxes included) for the entire duration of the residency.
  • Travel
  • Subsistence costs
  • Production costs may be agreed following discussion of the creative project.

Maison Losseau wishes to

To welcome a resident who understands French so that they can have access to the books and archives kept on the site.

The resident will be a writer (novelist, short story writer, poet or playwright) OR usually integrates writing into an artistic approach combining the visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, installations) and literature / musical creation and literature / dance and literature. 

Maison Losseau will be unable to take in any residents in July 2025.

Annex 4. Darvas-La Roche House, Oradea, Romania

Darvas-La Roche House is

The Darvas-La Roche House stands as an architectural gem in Oradea, crafted in the Art Nouveau-Viennese Secession style. Following an ambitious restoration endeavour, it now hosts the city’s latest cultural treasure: the Art Nouveau Museum.

With its recognizable façade decorated with Zsolnay ceramic buttons, the Darvas-La Roche House stands proudly among Europe’s finest architectural marvels from the turn of the 20th century. Erected between 1909 and 1912 by the talented brothers László and József Vágó, it remains a testament to their vision and craftsmanship. The exterior of the house bears the influence of the architecture of Otto Wagner and Josef Hoffmann.

Speaking of the Viennese Secession, one of the attractive elements of the house are the stained glass windows. They are a sign of wealth and opulence and are decorated with the motif of the tulip, the climbing stem, the bird and the spiral. These are elements of the Viennese Secession, which is characterized by geometric shapes, straight lines and a certain regularity, but do not lack floral and vegetal decorations.

The tulip is actually a decorative leitmotif in the house, where the basic colours are shades of red, raw green and gold/beige. The ritual fountain in the upper hall, used to practice the Jewish ritual washing in, has a high artistic value. It is plated with geometric elements: triangles, round shapes, squares, spirals. Just like the facade buttons, these geometric elements are made of Zsolnay ceramics from Pecs, Hungary. The dining room furniture is of great value as it was purchased from Jewish collectors in Glasgow. Experts say that it was designed in the workshops of the Vágó brothers, who also designed the house, due to the striking similarities in shape and ornaments with the other elements in the house.

The Darvas-La Roche house was built in the style of total art – Gesamtkunstwerk. Thus, the architect focused on all the designable elements in the house: from the tiles on the facade, to doors, windows, backplates, railings and even the gutter clamps. By the way, on the backplates can be seen the owner’s monogram, D.I. (Darvas Imre).

As the house of the first Art Nouveau Museum in Romania, it aims to promote and enhance Art Nouveau through a series of periodic activities that seek the participation of the public in order to involve it in the very distinctive expression of the Art Nouveau language represented by this house. 

For more information, visit: 

https://www.oradeaheritage.ro/casa-darvas-la-roche/

https://www.visitoradea.com/en/what-to-see/darvas-la-roche-house

Casa Davas–La Roche

Darvas-La Roche House offers

  • A grant of €3,500 (all taxes included) for the entire duration of the residency.
  • Between two and three weeks (at the candidate’s discretion) of residence between November 2024 and March 2025.
  • Accommodation provided in the heart of Oradea.
  • Contact with experts and historians in Art Nouveau.
  • Access to the museum areas during public opening hours (Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 – 18:00) 
  • Participation in all the activities taking place in Darvas-La Roche House.
  • Travel
  • Subsistence costs
  • Production costs can be covered up to €4500 including taxes.

Darvas-La Roche House wishes to

Welcome an artist who understands and speaks Romanian, Hungarian or English, the languages shared by the conservation team. It is important to take into account that the archives devoted to  Darvas-La Roche House and Art Nouveau from Oradea and the region are mainly in Romanian, while the books in our library are in many European languages.

The residency program primarily supports artists who focus on contemporary ceramic art and who mainly deal with ceramic materials or porcelain. The prerequisite for participation is explicitly the will to exchange ideas and work with archives and collections, experts and historians. 

The artists’ approach should be based on the details that are present in the museum: 

  • the façade with decorative Zsolnay ceramic buttons
  • the details of flora and fauna
  • the modelled iron details that embodies vegetal motifs with symbolic meanings, in the geometric vision of the Viennese Secession

A final public presentation in the form of an exhibition or performance is expected, which will focus on the works created. The artists will be present at the opening. The artist is invited to give a workshop for younger people during the residence. The artist will accept to work with a team who will document the research and the manufacturing process.

Annex 5. Villa Majorelle, Nancy, France

The Villa Majorelle is 

The Villa Majorelle or Villa Jika is an emblematic example of Art Nouveau in Nancy. Cabinetmaker and art industrialist Louis Majorelle (1857-1926), a founding member of the École de Nancy association, commissioned the young Parisian architect Henri Sauvage to build his home in Nancy, just a few metres from his workshops. Built in 1901-1902, the house was conceived as a whole, with each element of its structure and décor closely interdependent with the rest of the building. The house bears witness to the close collaboration between artists from Paris and Nancy: Jacques Gruber for the stained glass windows; Francis Jourdain for the panels in the dining room; Henri Royer for the mural painting on the terrace and Alexandre Bigot for the stoneware tiles and fireplace elements. The patron also played an important role in furnishing his house, providing much of the interior decoration (stencils, wood panelling) as well as the furniture, which was dominated by naturalist inspiration. The main rooms are dedicated to a decorative theme that unifies the whole: the pope’s coin in the hallway and stairwell, wheat in the dining room and pine cones in the sitting room. Designed for a family of three, the villa has the unique feature of an artist’s studio on the second floor.

The entire Villa Majorelle is listed as a Historic Monument. It underwent exterior restoration in 2016-2017, followed by interior renovation in 2019 of the ground floor, including the entrance hall, dining room, living room and terrace, the stairwell and, on the first floor, the bedroom. The renovation of the 1er and 2e floors will continue over the next few years.

Since February 2020, the villa has been open to the public from Wednesday to Sunday. Mornings are reserved for groups and afternoons for individual visitors. The public only has access to the renovated areas and the garden, which was reduced in size after Louis Majorelle’s death.

For more information, visit: https://musee-ecole-de-nancy.nancy.fr/la-villa-majorelle 

See the virtual tour, the tour application or the exhibition on the Limédia website.

The Villa Majorelle offers

  • Ten consecutive days of residency in the studio located on the second floor of the villa (access possible from Wednesday to Sunday inclusive, no access on Monday and Tuesday). The residency will be used to prepare and reflect on the original artistic project, but the studio cannot be used as a production space.
  • Accommodation in a municipal flat may be possible, but this will depend on the timetable for the residence. Otherwise, accommodation costs will be charged.
  • Free admission to the Villa Majorelle and the nearby Ecole de Nancy Museum and their respective gardens, from Wednesday to Sunday inclusive during opening hours. 
  • An Internet connection, access to a bicycle, reimbursement of public transport costs in Nancy and free admission to Nancy’s museums.
  • A grant of €3,500 (all taxes included) for the duration of the residency.
  • Travel
  • Subsistence money
  • Production costs may be agreed following discussion of the creative project, up to a limit of €4,500 including tax.

The Villa Majorelle wishes to 

To welcome an artist who understands and speaks French, so that they can talk to specialists and academics in Art Nouveau, the environment and botany, and have access to the books and archives held on the site.

The artists’ practice will be related to visual arts, design, photography, literature or a combination of these. 

The Villa Majorelle is closed to residents from 20 December 2024 to 3 January 2025 and during the month of July 2025.

Annex 6. Art Nouveau Museum, Aveiro, Portugal

The Art Nouveau Museum of Aveiro is

The Art Nouveau Museum of Aveiro is located in the former residence of Mário Pessoa, a businessperson that lived in the house with his wife and four children. The building, albeit not large, has two very striking façades, highly decorated with intricate stonework and ironwork. The motifs all come from Nature, plants and animals, and express the vital force of the natural world and a knowledge of botanical species and their symbolic meaning: sunflowers and poppies. The interiors show the Portuguese taste for tiles and although they are not, so highly decorated they have a new approach to organisation, comfort, light and airing. 

The Art Nouveau Museum functions as an interpretation centre for the local Art Nouveau movement and facilitates the discovery of the other Art Nouveau building spread through the streets of Aveiro, a veritable museum collection that is exhibited outdoors. 

The Art Nouveau Museum offers:

  • The opportunity to discover the local Art Nouveau trend and a city that is surrounded by water and dependent on a delicate balance between growth and nature. The opportunity to reflect and research the interconnectedness of people and Nature and to produce works of Art that makes us reflect on this relationship and that can suggest paths for a future balance between Nature and us;
  • Between 3 to 4 weeks, at the candidate´s discretion, of residency in an equipped accommodation, located in the centre of Aveiro – in February | March 2025;
  • Free access to the Aveiro’s Museums;
  • Entry tickets for Aveiro’s Theatre;
  • Reimbursement of public transports costs in Portugal;
  • A grant of 3 500 euros (all taxes included) for the entire duration of the residency;
  • Travel costs;
  • Subsistence money;
  • Production costs may me agreed following discussion of the creative project;
  • Exhibitions, publications, individual or collective cultural events can be considered on a case-by-case basis with the RANN authorities.

The Art Nouveau Museum of Aveiro wishes to

The Art Nouveau Museum is interested in exploring the deep connection with Nature, the need of a reencounter with Nature within our homes and cites. How Nature can be a quiet source of strength and resilience. How Nature influences our bodies, our states of mind and our wellbeing. There is also a need to address our fear of losing the wilderness, the tension between a domesticated Nature and its raw force that can engulf us. Is sustainability the same thing as balance? Where do we find this balance in cities landscapes and homes? If Art Nouveau puts Nature in the centre stage in the houses of 1900’s city inhabitants, what can this mean today? How can we do it in contemporaneity? The resident must understand and speak English and can work in different fields of the visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, installations), musical and literature creation is also possible.