The 2024 winner of this residency, organised with the support of the Friends of the Beaux-Arts de Paris, is Eva-Gabrielle Sarfati, a 2023 graduate, with A vos cuisines, à vos récits, a generous and inclusive project based on culinary rituals and orality in Senegal, culminating in a performance meal. The residency will take place in May.

During her residency at Villa Ndar, Eva Gabrielle intends to explore the multiple culinary horizons of Saint Louis, delving into the stories and gestures of this gastronomic culture. For the residency, she plans to create a kitchen space where performers, equipped with metal prostheses forged on site, will be responsible for preparing local specialities. These prostheses will become an extension of their limbs, while masks will hide part of their faces. Led by a small group of 2 to 4 people, this event will be a fusion of gesture, dance and sound, offering visitors and passers-by the fruits of this tableau vivant.

This project resonates with his practice of performance with a poetic approach, in a mystical, even animistic universe, through forms in perpetual evolution, due to the freedom of action of the participants.

"Ceramics, forges, the art of molecular cooking, movement, sound, evolving and constantly renewed performances? These are my proposals.


Villa Saint-Louis Ndar residency in partnership with Beaux-Arts de Paris

The Institut Français du Sénégal and the Beaux-Arts de Paris, with the support of the Friends of the Beaux-Arts de Paris, are offering young graduates of the Beaux-Arts de Paris a one-month research and creative residency starting in 2023 at the Villa Saint-Louis Ndar, the first French Villa in sub-Saharan Africa. This exceptional residency gives the winning artist the chance to develop their practice in a city listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A residency at the Villa Saint-Louis Ndar is an invaluable opportunity for creative exploration in a prestigious setting that attracts around a hundred artists from all disciplines, and to benefit from international visibility and the French cultural cooperation network.