About

A dynamic network of residences, Villa Swagatam aims to promote cultural contacts between South Asia, India, and France. The 2023-2024 iteration of the programme was hosted by the Public Arts Trust of India in partnership with the Prameya Art Foundation and RAAS Jodhpur. Deborah Fischer was the recipient of the residency. 

Born in 1992, Deborah Fischer is a visual artist who graduated from ENSAAMA in textile design (2014) and École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris (2019). She is developing a work in sculpture, installation and performance in the public space. For several years now, she has been collecting "almost nothing" items that have outlived their usefulness but retain a plastic and emotional charge. Like an urban alchemist, she forces objects together through a combination of materials, a long process of assembly and composition. By building up her own archaeology of the present, as close as possible to the contemporary issues of our society, she also tries to detect the spirit of a place and to create from what it tells us. In 2023, she will be exhibiting at the 19M and the Fondation Bullukian, and will be a resident of the Weiss Endowment Fund. She will be an artist-researcher at the Collège des Bernardins, in partnership with AgroParisTech, from 2021 to 2022, and she has been nominated for the Prix Dauphine pour l'Art Contemporain 2021

During her month-long stay in Jodhpur, Deborah interacted with artist communities involved with craft and residents of the city of Jodhpur, gaining a deep insight into the history and traditions of the city. This process has been pivotal for her on-going project.