Bétonsalon

A non-profit organisation founded in 2003, Bétonsalon is an art and research centre which has been located in the Université Paris Cité, in the 13th district of Paris, since 2007. Bétonsalon's programme is structured around the sensory experience as a factor of experimentation around social, racial, gender and environmental issues, all capable of thwarting the binary representations that oppose theory and practice, reason and sensibility, passivity and activity, as well as culture and nature, the research process and the finished product. 

Magnetic Residencies:

Bétonsalon is part of the Magnetic Residencies programme, run by Fluxus Art Projects, built around tandem partnerships between institutions and residencies based in a region in France (CAPC in Bordeaux, Frac Grand Large in Dunkerque, Frac Bretagne in Rennes and Villa Arson in Nice) and in the United Kingdom (Wysing Arts Centre, Cove Park, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Flax Art Studios). Artists from each of the five French regions are invited to apply for the residency based in an associated organisation in the UK; artists from each British institution can apply for the residency programme based in the associated French region. For the 3rd edition of Magnetic, a new partnership programme has been created between Gasworks in London and Bétonsalon. Two artists, one of whom is based in Ile-de-France and the other in England, are hosted for 2 months.

Bétonsalon encourages applications which engage with practices rooted in an exploration
of sensorial relationships to the world and which offer collective tools to reassess the way in which our body and mind are affected by and respond to the multiple crisis we are currently facing. We support artistic research which aims to broaden our understanding of physical and emotional interrelations between the human and the non-human – through performance, immersive installation, film, sound, care practices, radical pedagogies,
participatory experiments etc. – and to question the way in which social and institutional frameworks shape experiences with our environment.

School residency programme “Art pour Grandir” (Art to grow): To develop artistic and cultural education on a Parisian scale, the Department of Cultural Affairs andthe Department of School Affairs have mobilized cultural institutions to work together on a specificscheme to make culture a shared asset. It was in this context that “Art pour grandir” was born in 2009.Since then, theprogrammehas grown by bringing cultural institutions closer to schools, enablingchildren and young people from kindergarten to secondary school to spend more time discovering andpracticing art, and encouraging them toseeworks of art andvisitcultural venues.Bétonsalon's Art pour Grandir residency is deployed as a priority in middle schoolsinworking-classneighborhoods, and in close collaboration with the “Action collégien” program.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Magnetic Residencies:
Each artist receives a grant of €2,500 per month, accommodation and a workspace, as well as curatorial support from the residency teams and networking opportunities with art professionals to develop their research, which must focus on societal, historical and environmental issues that are deeply rooted in the region.

Residencies in schools

Art pour Grandir :
Artists participating in this residency programme receive €3,600 (which takes into account the time spent working in the school, totalling 36 hours) and a €2,000 production grant. The art centre’s team supports and accompanies the artists in their research and puts them in touch with structures and contacts that can contribute to the development of their projects.

DURATION

Magnetic Residencies:

2 months, from November to December 2024 for the Magnetic edition #3 

Residencies in schools

Art pour Grandir :

The Art Pour Grandir residency takes place during the school year, from September to June.
Workshops in schools generally last between 3 and 6 months. The timetable is drawn up in consultation with the artist and the school, and can be adapted to suit individual needs.

SELECTION PROCESS

Magnetic Residencies :

The call for applications for Magnetic #3 is issued on the 21st of May on the Fluxus Art Projects website and runs until the 15th of July (midnight). This call is open to professional artists working in the visual arts who have already presented their work in several professional venues identified by contemporary art networks.
Applications will be assessed on the basis of their artistic ambition in the context of a professional practice rooted in contemporary visual arts, the relevance of
of the artist's proposal to the context and objective of the residency, and motivation for an international residency at this stage in the artist's career.

More information on the Magnetic Residencies programme is available on the Fluxus Art Projects website.

Residencies in schools

Art pour Grandir :
By invitation only.

CONSIDERATION FOR RESIDENTS' FAMILY LIFE

Bétonsalon will do its utmost to accommodate artists' requests in terms of their family life, proposing adjustments to the schedule if necessary.

RESIDENTS' COMMITMENTS 

Magnetic Residencies :

The artist undertakes to:
- Take care of the spaces made available to them
- Carry out a shared assessment with the Bétonsalon team at the end of the residency.

Residencies in schools

Art pour Grandir :

The guest artist undertakes to run a series of workshops in the partner school, and to carry out a shared assessment with the team at the end of the residency.

ACTIVITIES AIMED AT THE PUBLIC

Magnetic Residencies :

Meetings with the public and art professionals, proposed by the art centre.

Residencies in schools

Art pour Grandir :
A public meeting is organised at the end of the residency at Bétonsalon, in the partner school or any other venue relevant to the project. The form (projection, performance, meeting, etc.) is determined by the artist, together with the team from the art centre and the school.