Call for applications for the BMW 2012 residency

BMW and the Nicephore Niepce Museum are launching a call for applications for the 2012 residency programme in Chalon-sur-Saone.

In funding this residency at the Nicephore Niepce Museum for the second year running, BMW France reiterates its
support for contemporary photographic arts.

This second call for applications will enable a young photographer to complete a project during a three-month residency in autumn 2012, from September 10 to December 7.

The winner will receive a grant of €6,000 and the payment of accommodation costs in Chalon-sur-Saone.

The artist’s residency will culminate in the production of works created with the technical support of the museum’s laboratory, as well as the co-publication of a book and the mounting of an exhibition at the Rencontres d’Arles festival.

A selection of works chosen jointly by the artist and the museum directors will be produced in three sets: the first to be presented to the artist, the second to the museum to bolster its contemporary collections, and the third to BMW.

Applications should reach the museum before March 19. They should include a biography, a file presenting the general approach of the artist and a proposal setting out the artistic project planned for Chalon-sur-Saone.

The winner will be announced during the week of May 22 following a selection process administered by a selection committee comprising the head of culture at BMW together with Francois Cheval, Chief Curator at the Nicephore Niepce Museum, Francois Hebel, Director of the Rencontres d’Arles, Chantal Nedjib and Patrick de Carolis, after an initial selection made by the museum.

A full application pack can be downloaded from the museum and BMW France websites:
http://www.museeniepce.com and http://www.bmw.fr/arteculture.fr

This call for applications for a residency in Chalon-sur-Saone for a young photographer is the fruit of a collaborative relationship between BMW France and the Nicephore Niepce Museum, with the shared aim of contributing to the development of contemporary photography.

Since 1996, the museum has had its own in-house digital photography laboratory, which it uses to reproduce its permanent collections on digital media and to offer artists in residence technical expertise.

In this way, the museum helps promote the work of both young and established photographers. It is here that Elina Brotherus and JH Engstrom, among others, found a new direction for their work. The first BMW residency also provided Alexandra Catiere with the opportunity to pursue her research and further develop her work.

In funding this residency at the Niepce Museum, BMW confirms its support for the creative arts, particularly for contemporary photographers. This commitment demonstrates its efforts to support photography as an original, distinct medium, an invention that contributed to the advent of the modern age in much the same way as the automobile.

It is part of a unique, ambitious cultural partnership initiative:
Unique, because this partnership aims to reveal new keys to understand the interaction between art and technology and their impact on people and on society.

Ambitious, because it puts the emphasis on experimentation and innovation, in both artistic and technological terms.

This initiative is firmly in line with the policy pursued by the company since 2003, a policy that is also reflected in the partnership with the Rencontres d’Arles and with Paris Photo.

This support for photography is part of the cultural policy pursued by the Group over the last 40 years at global level. BMW supports over 100 varied cultural projects all over the world, in modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music, and architecture and design.

Jordane de Tyssandier, In-charge of Cultural Communications at BMW France, comments on these commitments, “We always make every effort to give our partners absolute creative freedom, which is essential for the creation of artistic masterpieces, just as it is for the emergence of major innovations in a company. In France, our commitment is particularly reflected in our support for photography; this medium is a wonderful example of the affinities between an art form and a brand, both of which are underpinned by a technical performance dedicated to esthetics and pleasure.”

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