A call for applications for the 2023 Multidisciplinary research and creation residency at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris resulted in 11 project proposals. At a meeting on 29 November, the jury was pleased to note the diversity, quality of, and investment in the proposed projects. The jury members were: Souraya Kessaria (Cité internationale des arts, Paris); Marlène Kreins (Centres d'art de la Ville de Dudelange); Letizia Romanini (Resident in 2022); Nathalie Ronvaux (Kulturfabrik, Esch-sur-Alzette); and Francisco Sassetti (Philharmonie Luxembourg).

The jury unanimously decided to award the residency to the artist Julien Hübsch for his research project titled ‘walls/origins/replacements‘.

Jury Statement
The jury was particularly impressed by the extent to which the artist's proposal was already well-developed, the relevance of the reflections under consideration, and the research process which is firmly rooted in the public space in Paris and the way in which is evolving.

The jury also noted the artist's professional experience and believes that the residency comes at a significant moment in his career and will allow him to put his research into practice in the international environment of the Cité des arts and in Paris more generally.

The Project (extract from the application)
“Much of my work as an artist has focused on vandalism and the way in which it is dealt with in public spaces. My work is therefore connected with the history of graffiti. It looks not only at the technical aspects of painting with spray cans, but also the importance of public spaces as a playground.
During my residency at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris, I would like to research historical sites that saw rapid growth in street art and tags across the world and which were considered key areas for interactions between graffiti artists since the end of the 1960s.
I believe my work would benefit significantly from time spent outside my production studio in Germany and allow me to focus my field research in one of the most important places for my current work in progress.”

About Julien Hübsch
Based in Luxembourg and Mainz, Julien Hübsch (1995, Esch-sur-Alzette) has studied at the Kunsthochschule Mainz, the Bauhaus University in Weimar, and the HGB Leipzig. He has been taught by Anne Speier, Franziska Reinbothe, Prof. Shannon Bool, Prof. Thomas Schmidt, Heike Aumüller, and Prof. Sven Kroner.
Julien Hübsch's practice explores the concepts of vandalism and the understanding of urban spaces in order to create environments that fluctuate between paintings, in situ sculptures, and installations.
His work has been shown in several individual and group exhibitions in Germany and Luxembourg. He was also nominated for the Edward Steichen Award (2022) and the Robert Schuman Art Prize (2021).