Open Call: International Artistic Residency at Atelier Samuel Beckett in France

Open Call: International Artistic Residency (Pilot) at Atelier Samuel Beckett in France

In partnership with Galway Culture Company, Atelier Samuel Beckett, Gare St Lazare Ireland and the University of Galway 

Artists in Galway County and City are invited to apply for a 3-week international artistic residency at Atelier Samuel Beckett.

Artists living or working in Galway are invited to apply for a 3-week residency at Atelier Samuel Beckett in Méricourt, France to take place in spring 2024. There will be 2 awards valued at over €6000 including a stipend to each artist of €1500. The bursary will cover self-catering accommodation, utilities, admin and cleaning costs, Gare St Lazare mentoring and travel expenses for 2 successful artists. University of Galway will also provide access to its theatre archives and rehearsal studios.

The deadline to apply is Friday, 22 September 2023 at 5pm CET. 

These bursaries are supported by Galway Culture Company in association with Atelier Samuel Beckett and Gare St Lazare Ireland, and by the School of English and Creative Arts and the James Hardiman LIbrary, University of Galway. 

Atelier Samuel Beckett is a new international artist residency in the village of Méricourt, France, an hour northwest of Paris on the River Seine.

Its mission is to promote and highlight the artistic legacy of Samuel Beckett across the arts through a series of artistic residencies.

Atelier Samuel Beckett offers a self-directed residency and provides accommodation and workspace for professional artists with experience of, or an interest in using Beckett’s work as inspiration in their own practice. Successful artists will spend 3 weeks living at Atelier Samuel Beckett, sharing with one other artist and working in an environment that supports and values artistic ambition, exchange, and self-directed work. One artist from Galway County and one from Galway City will be awarded a residency in 2024. 

The residency dates offered will be subject to availability. The 3-week periods are at intervals from 7th January 2024 to 20th April 2024.

The residence at Atelier Samuel Beckett has two en-suite bedrooms, a shared dining room and kitchen as well as a Beckett library and study as a shared resource space for artists. 

The bursary is currently aimed at artists of all disciplines as a place to reflect, develop, research and study while accessing Beckett’s writing. It is hoped that artists whose usual work may require specialist equipment, expertise or material would still consider the residency as an opportunity for reading, thinking, planning and reflection time. The bursary includes up to 2 hours of mentorship and consultation with the artistic directors of Gare St Lazare Ireland, (GSLI) Judy Hegarty Lovett (director/designer) and Conor Lovett (actor). Additional mentorship can be arranged subject to availability and additional charges. 

Mericourt is about an hour’s train journey northwest of Paris. It is also close to the village of Giverny where Claude Monet lived (his house is now a museum open from early April to the end of October). The village became a center for the impressionists and has many small galleries and studios.

Gare St Lazare Ireland is an Irish theatre company that stages the plays and prose works of Samuel Beckett and has a strong record of collaboration with musicians, composers, visual artists, photographers, videographers and writers as well as with fellow theatre-makers, actors, designers, playwrights, producers and technicians.

Applicants should consider the potential for deepening their knowledge of Beckett’s work and its influence across the arts, and how to benefit from GSLI’s practice. Examples include conversations, workshops and attending rehearsal or development (when in session). 

The primary goal of the residency is for the resident artist to develop their own practice and there is no obligation for artists to deliver outcomes.

In support of the residency applicants will be provided with on-site access to the theatre archives of the University of Galway, which feature substantial material related to the production of Beckett’s work in Ireland, including the archives of the Abbey Theatre, Gate Theatre, Druid Theatre, Lyric Theatre, Pan Pan, Macnas, Galway international Arts Festival, Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe, John Arden and Margaretta D’Arcy, Thomas Kilroy, Siobhan McKenna, Alan Simpson, Joe Vanek, and many others. Applicants may also request up to one week’s rehearsal or research space in the O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Galway prior to or after the residency (subject to availability). 

This project and its partnership are a response to the Joint Plan of Action (2021-2025) between Ireland and France. The Plan aims to strengthen and deepen relations between the two countries across a range of cultural, educational and political activities. Among the aims of this plan is to foster the digital economy and to jointly promote cultural exchanges, including the creation of several new cultural fellowships and residency programmes between Irish and French institutions. Samuel Beckett’s body of work embodies Franco-Irish cultural exchange and shows how potent international partnership can be.

Eligibility: 

To be eligible to apply, applicants must: 

• Demonstrate artistic practice and track record
• Live or work in, or are demonstrably connected to, Galway City and County (Ireland)
• Show a connection to Samuel Beckett’s work in their past or future work
• Have a basic level of English and/or French

Criteria: 

Applications will be assessed on the following criteria:

• Artistic track record
• Quality of the proposal
• Fit of practice and proposal with the facilities available

To apply:

Artists must submit:

• A completed application form
• Up-to-date artistic CV (max 3 pages)
• Email and phone contacts for 2 professional referees.
• Up to 3 examples of work (max 10 images/ or 5 pages of literature per work. Max of 5 links to view, hear or sample your work.)

Applications will be assessed by a decision panel including the host organisations. Shortlisted artists may be invited for an interview.

To apply click here: (APPLICATION FORM ) or click the ‘apply here’ button below. Deadline is Friday 22 September 2023.

Send the above supporting materials by email as attachments or by Wetransfer to ateliersamuelbeckett@gmail.com. 

Requests for information about the O’Donoghue Centre and/or theatre archives at the University of Galway can be sent to patrick.lonergan@universityofgalway.ie.