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Residency for stART.up alumni and alumnae

Deepening international artistic and cultural exchange and creating a space for artistic resonance: With dépARTS, we support outstanding stART.up alumni and alumnae in cooperation with Fondation Fiminco in Paris. This program offers a three-month residency in Paris, combined with the realization of an artistic project. Participants showcase their work in the city, connect with the local art and cultural scene, and engage with artists from TALENTS!, Fondation Fiminco’s international residency program.

The Claussen-Simon Foundation provides the resident artists with a work grant. At Fondation Fiminco, they have access to all available resources, including eight specialized workshops with professional guidance from workshop managers. Our cooperation partner actively facilitates connections with key figures and institutions in the Parisian cultural landscape, fostering networking and exchange opportunities.

The next application period will be in early 2026. stART.up alumni and alumnae from the fields of performing arts, visual arts, photography, or illustration are eligible to apply. In the long term, the residency program aims to be open to artists from all disciplines.

In 2024, Katja Pilipenko and Maik Gräf participated in the dépARTS residency in Paris. Their stay culminated in an exhibition organized in collaboration with other artists from the TALENTS! program.

 

Working Conditions

  • Private studio
  • Access to workshops and technical studios of all kinds
  • Shared living spaces

Artistic Support

  • Artistic and curatorial mentoring by the Fondation Fiminco team
  • Technical support from workshop managers
  • Administrative assistance

Professionalization, Visibility, and Networking

  • Invitation to public events and programs organized by Fondation Fiminco, as well as excursions to cultural institutions in Paris
  • Opportunity to participate in exhibitions and public discussions (Open Studios, talks, performances, screenings, exhibitions)
  • Inclusion in the Fondation Fiminco alumni network

Call for Applications dépARTS! 2025

The residency program dépARTS is for stART.up alumni or alumnae only. The application period for 2025 has ended.

Fondation Fiminco

The Fondation Fiminco was established in 2017 as a corporate foundation of Groupe FIMINCO and began its activities in 2019. It is located on a former industrial site in Romainville, Grand Paris, where a new Cultural Quarter is currently being developed for 10,000 people, providing them with free and open access to contemporary cultural production.

The foundation is dedicated to collaboration with local stakeholders as well as artists from around the world, offering them a logistical and organizational framework for artistic creation and presentation. The 11,000-square-meter former industrial site houses an exhibition center, four galleries, a film production company, a publishing house, and the campus of an art and design school. In the near future, it will also include a 600-seat theater.

Residency 2024: Maik Gräf and Katja Pilipenko

During the dépARTS residency at Fondation Fiminco in Paris, I was able to fully unfold in an inspiring environment. The facilities and resources on-site were excellent, allowing me to learn new techniques and immerse myself in new creative processes. The professional guidance and the targeted networking with institutions in the Parisian art scene further enriched my stay. Most valuable was the exchange with the other artists living on-site – a community shaped by mutual support and inspiration.

During the residency, I created several works that deeply explore queer identity and history, addressing themes of nostalgia, AIDS, vulnerability, and desire. I produced large-scale cyanotypes on fabric, developed various silkscreen print series on paper, and experimented with offset lithography for the first time. Additionally, I began working with video art, which I will now further develop into a new body of work.

For the final exhibition, TALENTS FAREWELL, I presented my works in a spatial installation that drew on the aesthetics of queer subcultural club spaces. To expand the installation and the event itself with an additional queer perspective, I invited Parisian artist and performer Théo Pézeril, who contributed a performance specifically designed for this evening.

Maik Gräf
Photographer, stART.up class of 2021/22

The three months I spent at Fondation Fiminco in Paris as part of the dépARTS program by the Claussen-Simon Foundation were an incredibly enriching and inspiring experience. Thanks to the foundation’s support, I was able to expand my artistic language, make valuable new connections, and explore the Parisian art scene, which differs in many ways from the German one. One of the most inspiring aspects was seeing the works of the other incredible artists in the residency. 

During my stay, I created three works: A sculpture featuring structural elements produced with a 3D printer; a culinary performance; a series of silkscreen prints, which I worked on intensively for the last one and a half months. 3D printing and silkscreen printing were new techniques for me, and the support from the foundation’s workshop managers was crucial in helping me successfully realize these works.

The TALENTS FAREWELL event took place at the very end of the residency. We presented our works together with the other participants of the three-month program. Additionally, Maik Gräf and I held a conversation with critic Anaïd Demir. It was valuable to discuss my work in more depth, particularly its connection to current historical events in Russia as well as themes of nostalgia and resentment toward the Soviet past. I explore these topics by linking them to the popular Russian literary genre of time travel fiction.

Katja Pilipenko
Visual Artist, stART.up class of 2022/23