mucem / iméra: residency 2025–2026

As a result of a partnership between the Mucem and Iméra, the Institute for Advanced Study (IEA) of Aix-Marseille University, the Mucem/Iméra residency 2025-26 offers three focuses open to artists, architects, researchers, scenographers, and professionals in museology and heritage with an interest in ethnographic and museological questions. The residency duration is 5 months, between 1 September 2025 to 30 January 2026.

The applicant is expected to develop their research in co-construction with the Mucem’s scientific team. This collaborative dimension must be clearly explained in the project, showing the envisaged working methods for this immersive collaboration.

The 3 focuses of the 2025–26 call are as follows:

1. Conduct research in conjunction with the Mucem’s collections and documentary resources around two exhibitions: the ‘Mediterranean, Inventions and Representations’ exhibition, particularly around questions of popular reappropriations of ancient pasts OR around the planning of the exhibition ‘How the Mediterranean Looks at Europe’, designed from the collections of the European depot of the Musée de l’Homme.
2. Rethink artists’ interventions in society museums through participatory workshops integrating artistic writings based on documentary data (e.g., but not limited to, sensitive mapping and the role of alternative mapping in exhibitions).
3. Conduct research on Fort Saint-Jean and its history, proposing a work or exhibition in one of the outdoor spaces of the Fort and/or in the rooms of the officers’ gallery (this third focus is only open to artists, architects, and scenographers).

The Mucem/Iméra residency aims to imagine possible artistic and scenographic interventions on the site, following the residency, which will be submitted for review at the Mucem.