Manifesto unites with the Verrecchia Endowment Fund to design, launch and manage an art, architecture and landscape residency in Versailles.

From October 2022 to April, the Verrecchia Endowment Fund and Manifesto have welcomed young artists, architects and landscapers in residence at the Château de la Maye in Versailles for two sessions of three months each. The former clinic of La Maye was turned into a creative laboratory at the intersection of the three disciplines.

Artists, architects and landscapers met to explore a common theme: excavation. Through multidisciplinary research, a collective momentum ha been created, crossing disciplinary borders to discover a shared language and establish an artistic dialogue.

Various workshops and visits were organized during the first weeks of each residency session. The goal was to cross disciplines, let residents explore the area and allow them to interact and form research groups.

Residents were mentored by Gilles Brusset, landscape architect and visual artist, Elisabeth Lemercier, professor at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture, Antoine Jacobsohn, assistant to the director of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Paysage, in charge of the Potager du Roi, the artist- architect duo Guillaume Henry and Lucas Biberson, Servane Verrecchia, head of strategy, development and innovation of the Verrecchia group, Xavier Rochart, archaeologist at the Inrap (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research), Henri Frachon, POUSH artist and winner of the Audi talents and Villa Noailles awards, and Yvannoé Kruger, director of POUSH, a unique creative space in Aubervilliers. A stone cutting workshop has also been organized with Paul Vergonjeanne and Bruno Combernoux of the Compagnons du devoir.

Residents: Sophie Bellot, Elie Bouisson, France-Lan Lê Vu, Zalmai Levrat Sherzad, Bastien Pery, Fiona Stahl, Odile Zait, Ihssane Zrouli. 

To build on their common research, these first residents created a final exhibition and a fanzine titled Si tu creuses, which present the work they have produced during their three months at the Château.

Les résidents : Marcelline Bertin, Cindy Djahnine, Valeria Faillace, Eleonore Ferret, Magda Meziane, Coline Ramonet-Bonis, Pierre Louis Peny, Anourak Visouthivong. 

On April 6, 2023, the eight artists, landscape architects and architects presented an exhibition and led workshops throughout the day for students from the Colonel de Bange primary schools (Versailles). After a visit to the exhibition, the students of the CE1 and CM1 classes took part in workshops led by the residents, combining drawing, photography, writing and sensory awareness, and then had the opportunity to discuss their work. In the evening, the residents welcomed the people of Versailles to share their work and creations made over the last few months on the theme of excavation, as part of their exhibition Pierre, Fouille, Ciseau.