BMW France Art & Culture announces its partnership with GOBELINS, the School of Visual Arts, and is calling for applications for the BMW 2017 Residency.

Paris. The BMW residency will start in September 2017
at GOBELINS, the School of Visual Arts. BMW France Art Culture
is entering into collaboration with this school that plays a key role
in training the next generation in all the existing disciplines of the
visual arts and whose teaching methods encourage the emergence of new practices. 

The artistic direction function will go to François Cheval, in whom
BMW once again places its trust. The BMW Residency scheme first
started in 2011 in the Nicéphore Niépce Museum in Chalon-sur-Saône.
The first six winners received the benefit of the expertise of
François Cheval – then the curator in chief – and the support of all
of the museum’s staff. 

For this new edition, “BMW, which has always fostered a
pioneering spirit, is more than ever putting the emphasis on
experimentation. This is why GOBELINS was a natural choice for us – we
share the same values of excellence and innovation. Our ambition is to
seek out a new photographic language” comments Serge Naudin,
Chairman of the Management Board of BMW Group France. 

This sponsorship makes BMW the first company to be a part of the
GOBELINS equal opportunities policy, funding scholarships for two
students over three years.
 

“Philanthropy and cultural sponsorship form an integral
part of BMW’s corporate culture. We are proud to support students
being offered an education that develops creative agility. Since we
place great importance on transmitting knowledge, we have also
incorporated into this new Residency a powerful interaction between
the winner, the artistic director, the educational staff and the
students” added Serge Naudin.
 


The BMW Residency at GOBELINS

 

In spite of this change of direction, the BMW Residency is
remaining true to its fundamental principle: continuous support for
the winner, from the creation and production of works through to
their exhibition in the Rencontres d’Arles and Paris Photo
exhibitions and through a book published by éditions Trocadéro.

To these guiding principles is now added the contribution of a
college that puts all its expertise behind this photographic
project, creating interactions between the winner, and the GOBELINS
educational staff and students.

A third-year student will act as photographic assistant to the
winner. This will be a very rewarding experience for the student.
The student will work alongside the artist, and benefit from the
advice of François Cheval, the artistic director of the Residency. 
 

GOBELINS will also provide a team of 5 to 6 photography
students, who will contribute to publicising the BMW Residency on
the social networks, through arranging meetings as well as producing
photos and videos. This team will foster interactions with the
school’s other students in conjunction with BMW, the winner and GOBELINS.
 

Nathalie Berriat, Head of GOBELINS: “We will be delighted
to welcome the artist chosen for the next BMW Residency to GOBELINS.
The artist will receive support on the human front just as much as
on the technical front. Passing on skills and sharing form a natural
part of the school’s philosophy; they are both essential values that
we share with BMW.”
 


The Artistic Director’s contribution

 

François Cheval will be artistic director for the BMW Residency
at GOBELINS.

With BMW and GOBELINS, he will be involved in the preselection
of applications and will submit this selection to the selection
panel, of which he is a member.

He will support the winner in his or her researches and artistic
project, handle the production, deal with the exhibition
arrangements and organise the critiques.
 


The funding provided for the winner of the BMW Residency

 

The artist will receive a bursary of €6,000 and accommodation in
Paris, if necessary, so as to be freed of any material constraints
throughout the Residency. This will leave him or her free to
concentrate on their photographic project with the support of the
School, the advice of the artistic director and with BMW funding.
 

A selection of images produced during the Residency will be
exhibited at the Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles and at the
Paris Photo exhibitions. BMW has been a partner to both of these for
8 years and 14 years respectively. The selection will also be
included in a monograph published jointly with éditions Trocadéro.
 

The works produced during the BMW Residency, signed and serially
numbered, will be divided into three batches:

The first batch will be exhibited and then returned to the
artist. The second batch will be made up of two images for GOBELINS,
including one chosen for communication purposes. The third batch, a
selection of works chosen jointly by the artist and BMW France, will
go to BMW France in exchange for its sponsorship.
 

Serge Naudin, Chairman of the Management Board of BMW Group
France: “This Residency is about a shared desire to experiment,
to build, and to let young talents surprise us all. For BMW, the
best way of predicting the future is to create it, and the future
looks to be very exciting.”
 

The application pack can be downloaded from the BMW Group France
website: – www.bmw.fr/artetculture 
www.gobelins.fr

The winner will be announced in June 2017.

 

For further information, please contact: 

The BMW Group France

The BMW Group has four sites in France: Montigny-le-Bretonneux (head
office), Tigery (training centre), Strasbourg (international spare
parts and accessories centre) and Miramas (international technical
testing centre). With its marketing and financial subsidiaries, and
its exclusive distributor network, the BMW Group employs over 5,000
people in France. In 2016, BMW Group France registered 85,697 BMW and
MINI brand vehicles and 13,603 motorcycles.

The BMW Group’s annual volume of purchases from French parts
manufacturers and suppliers is in the billions of euros. To mention
but a few, they include Dassault Systems, Faurecia, Michelin, Plastic
Omnium, St Gobain, and Valeo. The cooperation with PSA on 1.6 litre
engines is proving a great success. As part of its electro-mobility
strategy, the BMW Group has created the BMW i brand and brought out
the revolutionary BMW i3 and BMW i8.

BMW Group France is also actively pursuing a long-term policy of
sponsorship with well-known cultural institutions and associations,
such as the Opéra de Paris, and the Rencontres d’Arles de la
Photographie and Paris Photo photographic exhibitions. For over 30
years, BMW Group France has been funding public benefit projects
through its Foundation, under the auspices of the Fondation de France:
currently road safety for young drivers. The BMW Group’s societal
commitment also takes the form of partnerships in French sport: The
Federation Française de Golf (FFG), the Fédération Française de Rugby
(FFR) and the XV de France.

The BMW Group

With its three brands BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group is the
world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles
and also provides premium financial and mobility services. As a global
company, the BMW Group operates 31 production and assembly facilities
in 15 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2016, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.367 million cars and
145,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial
year 2015 was approximately € 9.22 billion on revenues amounting to €
92.18 billion. As of 31 December 2015, the BMW Group had a workforce
of 122,244 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term
thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established
ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain,
comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to
conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

GOBELINS, the school of the image

At the heart of the creative industries, GOBELINS has been one of the
leading schools in the disciplines of visual creativity for 50 years,
from image conception through to image production.

As a member body of the Paris Region Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, GOBELINS trains almost 800 students every year, 400 of them
on apprenticeship contracts. The school also provides continuous
training in photography, print and multimedia communication, graphic
design, interactive design, animation and video game design for 1,900
trainees every year. 

The school has gained national and international recognition. For the
second year in a row, GOBELINS was ranked as the world’s top school
for animation (Animation career review, January 2017), top school for
graphic design and top apprenticeship training centre in France in the
graphical industries. GOBELINS is a pioneering provider of training in
digital and interactive communication. It trains creative technology
students with a comprehensive knowledge of design and user experience.


www.gobelins.fr