PAIR (PRAF Artist in Residence), an initiative aimed at extending the presence of artists from India, and promote exchange with diverse contexts through strategic partnerships and collaborations with institutions around the world. PAIR will support mid-career artists who have exhibited widely in India and stand to benefit significantly from an intensive residency abroad. Artists are nominated by a jury, who are then invited to share proposals and portfolios based on which they select the recipient of the award with Cité internationale des arts.
The Institut français is a public institution responsible for French cultural actions abroad. Its initiatives cover various artistic fields, intellectual exchanges, cultural and social innovation, and linguistic cooperation. Throughout the world, it promotes the French language, as well as the mobility of artworks, artists and ideas, and thus works to foster cultural understanding.
The Institut français, under the aegis of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, actively contributes to France's soft diplomacy. Its projects and programs take local contexts into account and can be successfully implemented thanks to the vast network of the French Embassies' cultural services, as well as the many Instituts français and Alliances Françaises present across five continents.
The 2020 edition of PAIR partners with Cité internationale des arts, Paris and Institut Français to award Prajakta Potnis a three-month-long residency at the eminent institution.
Prajakta's application was selected for the notable impression that her residency proposal made on the jury members, its relevance to Paris, and the tangible benefit that the residency program will have on her artistic and professional career.
Prajakta, along with other artists, were nominated by a jury comprising Bose Krishnamachari (Artist/Curator), Ranjit Hoskote (Poet, Art Critic, Cultural Theorist and Independent Curator), Rekha Rodwittiya (Artist), Shukla Sawant (Visual Artist and Professor of Visual Studies, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University) and Sindhura DM (Director, Jackfruit Research & Design). From their nominations, the artist's proposal was selected by Fanny Rolland (Head of Residency Department, Institut Français) and Bénédicte Alliot (Director General, Cité Internationale des Arts).
Prajakta Potnis’s practice sails through painting, site-specific sculptural installations to public art interventions. She has extensively shown her works since 2001, nationally and internationally.
In the beginning of 2019 ,her Capsule series collected by the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg were part of the Museum’s iconic show, Now is the time-25 years collection Kunstmusuem Wolfsburg. In 2018, she participated in Facing India: India from a female point of view at the same. She did an extensive project commissioned at The Sharjah Art Foundation as part of a curated show, A Tripoli Agreement curated by Renan Laru-an in collaboration with Air Arabia and The Sharjah Art foundation, Sharjah.
She won the Umrao Singh Shergil Grant for Photography 2016-17.
In early 2017, she was part of Towards Mysterious Realities, an exhibition curated by Amy Cheng, TKG foundation and Cube space, Taipei. Her work was included in the O.K video - Indonesia media arts festival curated by Julia Sarisetiati and Renan Laruan. She was a part of India Re- Worlded: Seventy Years of Investigating a Nation, Curated by Arshiya Lokhandwala, marking 70 years of independence.
In 2016 she was invited to participate at the 11th Gwangju Biennale, curated by Maria Lind.
At the Queens museum, New York, her work was in a show titled Aftermidnight: Indian Modernism to contemporary India, 1947/1997, curated by Arshiya Lokhandwala (2015). Earlier that year she showed a site-specific wall installation at the Kunsthaus Langenthal, Langenthal.
In 2014, she was invited to participate in the Kochi -Muziris Biennale curated by Jitish Kalat, Kochi. That year, her work was part of Aesthetic Bind- Cabinet Closet Wunderkammer at Chemould Art Gallery, Mumbai, curated by Geeta Kapur. She participated in Textile Languages at the Thalie Art Foundation, Brussles. At the Kadist Art Foundation, Paris; Clark House Initiative, Mumbai invited her to create a site-specific immersive installation. In the same year Girish Shahane, included her work in Bright Noise for the Chennai Art Festival. As an Artist Dispatch Project, at HanartTz Gallery, Hong Kong her work was part of the exhibition Shamans And Dissent( 2013).Her works were part of the travelling exhibition titled Indian Highway IV, at the Mac Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon, France (2011), Indian highway III, the Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark (2010) and Indian highway II, the Astrup Fearnley Museum, Norway(2010).
Her solo projects include -when the wind blows, Project 88, Mumbai(2016), KitchenDebate at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (2014), Time Lapseat The Guild, Mumbai, Local Time at Experimenter, Kolkata (2012), Porous walls, The Guild, Mumbai (2008), Membranes and Margins, at Em Gallery, South Korea (2008) and walls in between, at The Guild, Mumbai (2006).
Prajakta has also been featured in significant publications like I’m Not There: New Art from Asia,(2010) Edited by Cecilia Alemani published by The Gwangju Biennale Foundation. In 2009 she was also featured in Younger than Jesus: the artist directory co-published by the New Museum and Phaidon.
Prajakta lives and works in Mumbai, India.
THE CITE INTERNATIONAL DES ARTS
The Cité internationale des arts extends over two complementary sites, one in the Marais and the other in Montmartre. In partnership with 135 French and international organizations , it welcomes more than 300 artists from all disciplines every month for periods of up to 6 months.
Since its creation in 1965, the Cité internationale des arts has hosted artists from all over the world in residence. It is a place of life open to dialogue between cultures, where artists meet their audiences and professionals.
The 2019 edition of PAIR partners with Cité internationale des arts, Paris to award Hemant Sreekumar a three-month-long residency at the eminent institution. Hemant Sreekumar was chosen as the recipient for his interest in developing projects requiring cutting-edge technology, likely to be present in France. Sreekumar was nominated by a jury comprising Nancy Adajania (Cultural Theorist and Curator), Sabih Ahmed (Senior Researcher, Asia Art Archive), Meena Vari (Dean, Contemporary Art and Curatorial Practice, Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology) and Anushka Rajendran (Associate Curator, PRAF).
BIO
Hemant Sreekumar is an Indian artist from Bangalore. He has a background in art history, fine arts and digital media. He does performance art with synthetic audio using principles of emergence & also produces visual media including prints and light based works. His works respond to notions of decay, generative bias and loss of semantics.
PROJECT AT CITE INTERNATIONAL DES ARTS
'Content' by Hemant Sreekumar, a recipient of the 2019 edition of PAIR.
'The album 'Content' was composed, optimised and recorded during Hemant’s residency in Paris, at the Cité internationale des arts in autumn/winter 2019. The album works with the duality of the word 'Content' i.e. of 'being satisfied' while also 'being within a channel'. The compositions attempt to capture this intense dual experience of calmness and catharsis created by constant connectivity. The sounds capture the purest emotions towards the objectification of the user into content.
A concept album recorded on audio cassettes with abstract sounds.
Album is now available online - https://www.everyoneiscontent.com/
THE CITE INTERNATIONAL DES ARTS
The Cité internationale des arts extends over two complementary sites, one in the Marais and the other in Montmartre. In partnership with 135 French and international organizations , it welcomes more than 300 artists from all disciplines every month for periods of up to 6 months.
Since its creation in 1965, the Cité internationale des arts has hosted artists from all over the world in residence. It is a place of life open to dialogue between cultures, where artists meet their audiences and professionals.
The 2022 edition of PAIR partners with Cité internationale des arts, Paris and Institut Français to award Karan Shrestha a three-month-long residency at the eminent institution.
Karan's application was selected for the notable impression that his residency proposal made on the jury members, its relevance to Paris, and the tangible benefit that the residency program will have on his artistic and professional career.
Karan along with other artists were nominated by a jury comprising BV Suresh (Artist/Curator), Ranjit Hoskote (Poet, Art Critic, Cultural Theorist and Independent Curator), Ravi Agarwal (Artist, Photographer, Environmental Campaigner, Writer, Curator), Pushpamala N (Visual Artist), Sarover Zaidi (Social Anthropologist & Philosopher) and Nandita Jaishankar (Senior Manager, Programmes & Editorial, Serendipity Arts Foundation). From their nominations, the artist's proposal was selected by Mathilde Lajarrige (Head of Residency Department, Institut Français) and Bénédicte Alliot (Director General, Cité Internationale des Arts).
BIO
Karan Shrestha divides his time between Nepal and India. His works overlays encounters in physical landscapes over that of mental maps of people and spaces he comes across so as to examine and restructure notions of the ‘present’. His practice incorporates drawings, sculpture, photography, text, film and video. With stories of every day and every people, his work seeks to blur opposites that build and define our individual and collective identities.
Shrestha has shown his work at the Sharjah Film Platform; Art Heritage Gallery, New Delhi; Jawaharkala Kendra, Jaipur; Prometeo Gallery, Milan; the Yinchuan Biennale; Photo.Kathmandu; Kathmandu Triennale; Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa; The Arkipel, Jakarta; Delfina Foundation, London; International Kurzfilmtage Winterthur.
THE CITE INTERNATIONAL DES ARTS
The Cité internationale des arts extends over two complementary sites, one in the Marais and the other in Montmartre. In partnership with 135 French and international organizations , it welcomes more than 300 artists from all disciplines every month for periods of up to 6 months.
Since its creation in 1965, the Cité internationale des arts has hosted artists from all over the world in residence. It is a place of life open to dialogue between cultures, where artists meet their audiences and professionals.
The 2023 edition of PAIR partners with Cité internationale des arts, Institut français Paris and the French Institute in India to award Debashish Paul a three-month-long residency at the eminent institution.
Debashish's application was selected for the notable impression that his residency proposal made on the jury members, its relevance to Paris, feasibility within the given timeline and the tangible benefit that the residency program will have on his artistic and professional career.
Debashish along with other artists were nominated by a jury comprising Veeranganakumari Solanki (Independent curator and art-writer), Nandita Jaishankar (Senior Manager, Programmes & Editorial, Serendipity Arts Foundation), Ushmita Sahu (Visual artist, curator and scholar), Nikhil Chopra (Artist), and Pushpamala N (Photo and Visual artist). From their nominations, the artist's proposal was selected by Cité internationale des arts, Paris and Institut français, Paris.
BIO
Debashish Paul born in 1994 in Nadia district in West Bengal and explores the problems of queer identity in a society dominated by heterosexual norms. Paul has done his BFA from The Indian College of Art and Craftsmanship, in Sculpture, Kolkata, and he completed his Master’s degree in Sculpture from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi in 2021.
He works across mediums including sculptural dress, performance, video, photo and drawing. He seeks to expand and explore the tabooed conception of homosexuality by unveiling the body, treating it as a tender landscape, and generating new references to queer identities. Working in the method of automatism. Paul’s recent sculptural costumes and connected performances indicate no specific gender orientation, male or female, are, in fact, the sensible screens, which both conceal and reveal fragile emotions and desires, always in conflict with society.
Paul was part of the Residency & Performance Programme by HH Art Space Foundation in collaboration with Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2022-23, Kochi, India ( Residency 26th November – 12th December & Performance 13th – 18th December 2022). Paul is a recipient of the 2022-23- Prince Claus Seed Fund. He was the first award winners of the: Allegro 1st prize 2021, Contemporary LYNX, UK .He has also received the 2022 Inlaks Fine Art Award, Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation ; The India Artist Relief Fund-2021 (MAP in partnership with 1Shanthiroad Studio/Gallery). He has participated in Beyond Binaries: Sensing Art through Queer Lensing-2021 at KCC, Kolkata; the Student's Biennale -2021, Kochi, Kala Sakshi Workshop-2021, Emami Art Open Call Exhibition -2020, Kolkata. Of Liminal Beings and Other Spaces curated by Ushmita Sahu -2021, Emami Art, Kolkata.
THE CITE INTERNATIONAL DES ARTS
Cité internationale des arts is a charitable foundation, which was founded in 1965: today it is the largest artist-in-residence center in the world. Thanks to an ideal location in the centre of Paris and its commitment to put the artist at the heart of the project, the “Cité” is a key player, both on the Parisian and international cultural scenes. Artists of all ages and from every discipline come from the four corners of the globe to its complementary sites in the Marais and Montmartre districts for residencies lasting from two months to a year. This ambitious project, born out of the desire to bring together artists from all over the world in Paris, grants the “Cité” a unique status, one which encourages exchange, artistic crossovers and creativity in general. It is a place to live and work that is open to dialogue between different cultures and where artists can meet their public and other professionals.
The 2024 edition of PAIR partners with Cité internationale des arts, Institut Français Paris and the French Institute in India to award Loise Braganza a three-month-long residency at Cité internationale des arts.
According to the jury, Loise Braganza has an interesting practice and research that is both in-depth and linked to the local context. She is at a point in her career where she will be able to take full advantage of a residency in Paris.
Loise along with other artists were nominated by a jury comprising Veeranganakumari Solanki (Independent curator and art-writer), Nandita Jaishankar (Senior Manager, Programmes & Editorial, Serendipity Arts Foundation), Kamini Sawhney (Curator, Board member, CIMAM), Nikhil Chopra (Artist) and representatives from Cité internationale des arts, Paris and Institut Français, Paris.
BIO
Loise Braganza, born in 1982 in Bombay (Mumbai), India, is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans textiles, costume, video, writing, and performance. With a background in fashion studies and costume design, she uses clothing as a narrative motif, exploring the voices embedded within garments. Her art delves into the non-binary relationship between body and garment, creating personas that reflect the complexities of socio-economic and cultural relations. Braganza's work critically examines the interplay between subject and object, engaging with themes of otherness
and the subaltern.
Braganza’s exhibitions include “Voice Of The Embroiderer” at Clark House Initiative, Mumbai (2019), and “We Are Closer To Our Clothes Than Our Livers” at Studio Citron, Goa (2023). Often, Braganza collaborates with other artists on projects who commission her for her costume and textile related works showcased at the the Kochi Biennale 2022, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2019, and Documenta 14. Her workshop series, "Mothering Creativity," was honoured with a Grantee Award from the Kshirsagar Apte Foundation.
Braganza holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Sophia and Wilson College, Mumbai, and an Advanced Diploma in Fashion Technology from Wigan and Leigh College, Mumbai, India. She also earned a Master’s in Fashion Critical Practices from ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, Arnhem, Netherlands, and completed the Alternative Economic and Monetary Systems Summer School at the University of Natural Resources & Life Sciences, Vienna (2021).
THE CITE INTERNATIONAL DES ARTS
Cité internationale des arts is a charitable foundation, which was founded in 1965: today it is the largest artist-in-residence center in the world. Thanks to an ideal location in the centre of Paris and its commitment to put the artist at the heart of the project, the “Cité” is a key player, both on the Parisian and international cultural scenes. Artists of all ages and from every discipline come from the four corners of the globe to its complementary sites in the Marais and Montmartre districts for residencies lasting from two months to a year. This ambitious project, born out of the desire to bring together artists from all over the world in Paris, grants the “Cité” a unique status, one which encourages exchange, artistic crossovers and creativity in general. It is a place to live and work that is open to dialogue between different cultures and where artists can meet their public and other professionals.
