Announcing selected artists for the 2017 Pernod Ricard Fellowship

Pernod Ricard and Villa Vassilieff are delighted to announce the four selected artists for the 2017 Pernod Ricard Fellowship:

Mercedes Azpilicueta (Argentina), Samit Das (India), Ndidi Dike (Nigeria) and Koki Tanaka (Japan). 

The Pernod Ricard Fellowship is conceived as a research and artistic platform, experimenting with non-linear models of generating and distributing knowledge to encourage different possible connections between researchers, contemporary artists, cultural institutions, non-profit organizations and the general public.

Inheriting the cosmopolitan and convivial spirit of the historical studio, art academy and artists’ cantina founded and run by Marie Vassilieff in Montparnasse, the Fellows enjoy a bespoke support, special meetings with researchers and art professionals relevant to their needs, and access to a rich network of institutions in France and abroad. Each project will develop into a program of exhibitions, performances, seminars and workshops at Villa Vassilieff, and a publication series.

Through the prism of voice, sound and language, Mercedes Azpilicueta will research the political dimension of desire in relation to affects; the biocultural, biodigital and biophysical body; and gender dissent in an aesthetic context, with a focus on modern female artists who subverted the gender binary such as Valentine de Saint-Point, Natalia Goncharova and Valeska Gert.

Samit Das will investigate the visual vocabulary of Indian modern art in resonance with Paris as world cultural capital, attempting to reassess the idea of modernism in India and the role of Western art, with a special focus on the numerous Indian artists who visited and stayed in France.

Ndidi Dike questions the way pre- and post-colonial histories and legacies of resource control have been shaping the African continent (or the Global South) politically, economically and socially. She will focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo, its past and present, conducting research at the Centre Pompidou, Quai Branly museum as well as other archives.

Koki Tanaka’s work visualizes and reveals the multiple contexts latent in the most simple everyday acts. Inspired by an encounter with a Japanese chef in Belleville, he plans to retrace histories of Asian and Japanese immigrants during and post war time in Paris, in relation with local restaurants.

The 2017 Pernod Ricard fellows were selected by an international Artistic Committee composed of:

Yuko Hasegawa, Artistic Director, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Sunjung Kim, Director, Art Sonje Center, Seoul 

Victoria Noorthoorn, Director, Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires
Sumeshwar Sharma, Curator & co-Founder, the Clark House Initiative, Bombay
Benjamin Seroussi, Director, Casa do Povo, Sao Paulo
Bisi Silva, Director, CCA, Lagos 

Bernard Blistène, Director, MNAM CCI – Centre Pompidou, Paris 

Colette Barbier, Director, Fondation d’Entreprise Ricard, Paris
Mélanie Bouteloup, Director, Bétonsalon – Center for Art and Research, Paris
Virginie Bobin, Head of Programs, Villa Vassilieff, Paris

In 2016, the Pernod Ricard fellows were Andrea Ancira (curator and researcher, Mexico), Zheng Bo (artist, China), Sojung Jun (artist, South Korea)
and Ernesto Oroza (artist, USA/Cuba).

About Villa Vassilieff
Villa Vassilieff, a cultural establishment owned by the City of Paris, opened its doors in February 2016, in the heart of Montparnasse, on the site of Marie Vassilieff’s former studio, which until 2013 housed the Musée du Montparnasse. It is run by Bétonsalon—Center for Art and Research, which is thus opening its second site of activities. Villa Vassilieff is conceived as a place for working and living, where to stimulate the blossoming of ideas, encounters and the sharing of knowledge. Pernod Ricard is its leading sponsor.

About Pernod Ricard
Since its creation, Pernod Ricard has become a renowned actor in the French and international contemporary art scene. The group is a prime supporter of many art institutions, among which Centre Pompidou, Saatchi Gallery, Guggenheim Bilbao and New Museum, while its various brands conduct numerous actions in support of contemporary art and artists, such as Fondation Ricard for Contemporary Art, or Absolut Vodka and Havana Club’s initiatives among others, with the mission to render art widely accessible to all.