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