INVITATION FOR APPLICATIONS 2024
La Borne is a leading local, national and international centre for showcasing contemporary ceramic creation. Since 2013, the Contemporary Ceramics Centre of La Borne (CCCLB) and the Ceramics Association of La Borne (ACLB), in partnership with the Regional Department of Cultural Affairs Centre-Val de Loire, have set up a programme of artists’ in residence to develop research into artistic, theoretical or scientific research in the field of ceramics.
The La Borne Artist in Residence Scheme consists of a residency of artistic research and production carried out jointly between a visual artist and a ceramist from the ACLB working in the ceramist’s studio.
Presentation of the Contemporary Ceramics Centre of La Borne
The Contemporary Ceramics Centre of La Borne is an iconic, unmissable place on the contemporary ceramics scene. It focuses its activities on the promotion and development of an international ceramics culture. The Contemporary Ceramics Centre of La Borne is a cultural and tourist amenity of the Communauté de Communes Terres du Haut Berry. The CCCLB’s entire artistic and cultural programme is built around a partnership with the permanent artists of the Ceramics Association of La Borne (ACLB) as a collaboration with all its members.
The Centre is supported by the French Ministry of Culture-Drac Centre-Val de Loire, the Centre-Val de Loire Region and the Departmental Council of the Cher, with the support of the commune of Henrichemont. It is a member of “devenir.art”, an association of cultural actors in the visual arts in the Centre-Val de Loire region.
Presentation of the Ceramics Association of La Borne
Since 1971, the Ceramics Association of La Borne (ACLB) has been demonstrating its dynamism by organising regular events, international meetings and exhibitions. Today, the Association has over 75 members representing thirteen different nationalities, all living within a radius of 35 km. Everyone creates unique pieces, utilitarian pottery and sculptures. The techniques and firings have become more varied, although wood still has a privileged status, with around thirty kilns still in use.
The Ceramics Association of La Borne is part of the National Collective of Ceramists. It is a member of the “Ateliers d’Art de France” and “devenir.art. It collaborates with the Communauté de Communes Terres du Haut Berry which manages the Contemporary Ceramics Centre of La Borne.
Presentation of the La Borne Artist in Residence Scheme
La Borne is world-renowned for its high-temperature wood-fired stoneware. From the 17th century onwards, production of utilitarian pieces developed, reaching its zenith at the end of the 19th century. From the 1940s onwards, the arrival of ceramists from a wide range of backgrounds renewed the output of La Borne. In the continuation of the revival that La Borne has experienced, the Residences project is intended to promote the sharing of knowledge, experience and techniques. It enables artists from all walks of life to be invited to collaborate with La Borne’s ceramists, with the aim of developing projects. The aim of the residency is partially to stimulate new experiments in the medium of ceramics and to reinvest an existing cultural heritage: a human legacy represented by artistic and ceramic work, as well as a historical legacy, from popular art forms to the production of sculptures and/or domestic objects found in particular in the collections of the Museum of La Borne.
Project – the stages of the residency
Once they have been selected by the jury, the invited artists undertake to:
- Meet with a minimum of 4 to 5 ACLB ceramists..
This first encounter will allow the artistic pairing to become established and to define a joint basis for their research. - Present their approach to the members of the ACLB
The guest artist is housed in a studio in La Borne, where they work with clay and the ceramist’s techniques. The artist hosts them and shares the content of their own artistic exploration. The team of artists agrees on a joint project which they implement independently. The two collaborators look for areas of influence and feed into their respective work with this experimental exchange.
All the pieces produced belong to the artistic team, who share equally the objects or the proceeds of any sales (in the event of an exhibition and/or purchase)
Residents and collaborators since 2014
Karine Bonneval, Eric Astoul, Johan Creten, Monique Lacroix, Claudine Monchaussé, Mountaincutters, Lucien Petit, Cécile Noguès,
Marie Preston, Charlotte Poulsen, Zhuo Qi, Hervé Rousseau, Bettina Samson, Georges Sybesma, Laure Tixier, Natsuko Uchino, Lucie Pillon, Dominique Coenen, Hélène Bertin, Jacques Laroussinie, Elsa Sahal, Dalloun, Elena Gileva, Jeltje Borneman, Charlotte Coquen, Isabelle Pammachius, Île/Mer/Froid, Javier Bravo de Rueda, Éléoniore False, Anne-Marie Kelecom.
Find all the information about the residences at: https://www.laborne.org/fr/residences_la_borne/
Review and feedback
The residency results in a feedback adapted to suit the project, in order to provide an account of the research work and the artistic journey made by the team. The form of the work expected will be proposed by the artistic team (artist and ceramist), those in charge of the Contemporary Ceramics Centre of La Borne, and the members of the jury as soon as the progression of the project allows it.
Location of the residency
La Borne is a village of potters specialising in multiple firing techniques. There are 75 potters within a 30 km radius who are members of the Ceramics Association of La Borne, each of whom has developed specific techniques in ceramic production.
Length of the residency
The residency programme lasts for 3 (non-consecutive) months in a year. The visual artist is invited to come and work in a ceramist’s studio and undertakes to be present on site for a minimum of 45 days.
Accommodation
During the residency, the artist will be given priority for accommodation in the “Maison des Châtelets”.
This accommodation is located 8 minutes’ drive from the Ceramic Centre. There will be no vehicles provided for the artist, and no transport arrangements will be handled or paid for by the Ceramic Centre. The artist who is considering applying for the residency must be autonomous and able to travel to and from La Borne and around the surrounding areas. We advise the artist to come with their own vehicle, or provide an appropriate means of transport that suits our geographical location.
Moreover, “La Borne Residencies” scheme only covers the accommodation of the artist. No exceptions can be made. Any persons accompanying the artist will not be accommodated at
“la Maison des Châtelets”, and no reservations for accommodation will be managed or paid for by the Ceramic Centre.
These terms and conditions of accommodation are not subject to negotiation.
The Residences La Borne programme shall assume responsibility solely for the invited artist.
Presentation of the Maison des Châtelets
La maison des Châtelets provides accommodation in a place that can host:
- a potter, in their main professional residence, in the area, artists and ceramists in residence as part of an artistic project linked to the Ceramic Centre’s programme,
- ceramic students in vocational training in the region.
The Maison des Châtelets as a whole is experimenting with an alternative to existing accommodation by offering other forms of exchange and hospitality for artists, ceramists and others outside the Ceramic Centre. By looking at each resident with all their individual nuances, allowing them to find their place in an existing community of ceramists and artists, giving them the means to make their own tools, it enables them to understand their environment and the time and to discuss it. This makes it a shared space for accommodation, for exchanging knowledge and skills linking the many forms of contemporary ceramic creation. By reflecting on the experimental dimension of the modes and mechanisms of hosting, professional integration and transmission, “La maison des Châtelets” explores alternative models of communality and coexistence as applied to a period of residence in our area.
Material conditions
Each participant’s remuneration: 3000 €
(in three instalments over the year of the project)
Perdiems for each participant: 250 €
Production costs associated with the residency: 2600 €
The production costs related to the restitution are fixed according to the project and up to a maximum of 1500 € and will be approved by the those in charge of the La Borne residency programme.
When each residency is over, a donation of a work or a group of works bearing witness to the experimentation carried out during the residency will be agreed between the residents and the CCCLB. This donation will become part of the CCCLB collection.
Application file
The applicant must submit a dossier that includes:
- a CV (including their postal address, telephone number and email address),
- a portfolio with a selection of 5 to 10 recent projects,
- a covering letter expressing their artistic and professional approach and explaining their motivation for applying for the «La Borne Residences» scheme,
- a statement of intent presenting the challenges of the project developed at La Borne in collaboration with a ceramist from the ACLB, as well as the artistic objectives behind this approach,
The jury will be attentive to the overall quality of the artistic approach and to the way in which the project relates to La Borne’s specific context, to its history and to all creative aspects of the visual arts. It will also take into account the artist’s technical knowledge. In the application, the project may specify the names of the partners desired for the collaboration and how they will be involved in the project, as well as the requirements anticipated (technical, artistic, etc.).
The jury’s assessment criteria:
- An understanding of the issues associated with the residence,
- Inclusion of the work in a contemporary artistic approach,
- An understanding of the issues associated with contemporary ceramics,
- Recognition of the artistic process in contemporary art/ceramic networks.
The application must be submitted by e-mail only to the following address:
residenceslaborne@terresduhautberry.fr
All of the documents sent as attachments to the e-mail must not exceed 20 Mo and all documents must be sent as a pdf.
Subject of the e-mail: La Borne Residence Application
For the attention of:
Ms. Nathalie Mestre
Vice-Chair, Communauté de communes Terres du haut-Berry
Document format: 1 single PDF document
Entitled: La Borne Residence Application 2022/2023_Applicant’s first name + last name
Date for submitting applications
From Thursday 15 February 2024
Deadline for receiving applications Wenesday 15 May 2024
Selection of residents
June 2024
Start of the residence
Depending on availability and from January 2024 onwards