Flat Time House is delighted to collaborate with AICA-UK and AICA France to support a residency exchange for art critics who are members of AICA, the International Association of Art Critics. The residency is organised in partnership with Maison d’Art Bernard Anthonioz (MABA), Nogent-sur-Marne in the eastern suburbs of Paris, who will host a resident from the UK branch of AICA, with FTHo hosting a writer from AICA France.
Click for more information and deatils on how to apply
Facade MABA, Maison d’Art Bernard Anthonioz in Nogent-sur-Marne. Photo credit: Aurélien Mole
If the art scenes in London and Paris have always been linked, art critics today find it increasingly challenging to find the time and money needed for extended stays in these capitals. AICA-UK and AICA France are therefore collaborating to create a new exchange programme for their members that will allow one UK-based applicant and one based in France to spend approximately three weeks in the other’s capital city.
The aim is to allow the two successful applicants to pursue research through seeing exhibitions, making studio visits and meeting other art professionals. In this they will be guided and assisted by member of AICA-UK and AICA France respectively. At the end of their stay both Residents will write short articles, typically two or three pages, reflecting critically on their experiences, for potential publication in AICA International e-mag.
The residency in London will be at Flat Time House, former house of artist John Latham, and in Paris it will be at the Maison d’Art Bernard Anthonioz (MABA), a place combining an art centre, a retirement home for artists and a complex of artist studios in a private home that is now part of Fondation des Artistes and is situated to the east of Paris. Both sites offer a well-furnished apartment.
The residency dates in Paris are 2nd – 26th October, during Paris Art Basel. In London the dates are 3rd – 24th October, coinciding with Frieze and Frieze Masters. October is a very exciting period in the art scene in both Paris and London, with an intense array of activities and encounters.
AICA-UK and AICA-France will co-select candidates for this exchange.
For UK-based applicants to AICA-UK:
Application requirements:
- Your application should comprise a letter of intent (no longer than one page) and a CV.
- Please note that this scheme is open only to AICA-UK members who have fulfilled the requirements of membership. Please state in your cover letter how long you have been a member.
- Please email your application to the Membership Secretary at [email protected] by midnight 31 July 2025.
- If selected, you agree to provide a short article reflecting on your experience, suitable for publication in AICA International e-mag.
What is provided:
- Free accommodation in Paris for a three-week period in October 2025, offered by MABA
- Return-ticket from home to the residency by train or flight
- A per diem
The successful applicant will be notified in mid-August 2025.
The AICA-UK and AICA-France Residency is supported by FLAT Time House in London and MABA, Fondation des Artistes, in Nogent-sur-Marne.
AICA-UK is the British section of AICA International. The International Association of Art Critics (AICA) supports those engaged in writing and thinking about art through offering public programmes and membership benefits that include free access to museums and galleries across the globe. AICA is committed to promoting art criticism as a practice and to protecting the ethical and professional interests of its members Established in Paris in 1950, this larger parent body is well represented in all parts of Europe, Australia, North and South America and the Caribbean. It has very active National Sections in Middle Eastern and Asian countries (Israel, Singapore, Japan, Hong-Kong, Pakistan) and a number of African Sections have been formed in recent years.
MABA / Fondation des Artistes
A contemporary art center created in 2006 at the initiative of the Fondation des Artistes, the MABA is located in Nogent-sur-Marne within the complex managed by the Foundation, which includes the Maison nationale des artistes — a retirement home for elderly artists — and two groups of artists' studios – the Hameau and the Cité Guy Loë.
Aimed at promoting and disseminating contemporary creation and encouraging the emergence of experimental projects, MABA organizes three exhibitions per year, either monographic or collective, in which it produces and presents the work of artists of all nationalities. Its program favors two mediums, photography and graphic design, while also focusing on other disciplines that question the relationship to the world and contemporary society, to history and memory, as well as to the territory... to build an "enlightened" citizen's perspective.
The values of transmission and education are indeed essential in the MABA project, which aims to make contemporary creation accessible to all audiences. Since its opening, it has undertaken various actions to establish partnerships with local organizations: schools, social sector associations, departmental tourism committees, etc., in order to anchor its action on a local and regional level.