The Villa Medici announces the 16 winners of the Residents’ Competition for the 2025-2026 academic year. Among them are two photographers : Randa Maroufi et Ben Russell.
Randa Maroufi (1987, Morocco) is a visual artist and filmmaker whose practice spans photography, video, and installation. A graduate of the National Institute of Fine Arts of Tetouan, the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts d’Angers, and Le Fresnoy – National Studio of Contemporary Arts, she is interested in the staging of bodies in public and private spaces. Her approach, often political, embraces ambiguity to question the status of images and the limits of representation.
Her residency project revolves around a film about her mother’s first job, as a “handywoman” in an Italian-Monegasque family involved in the industrial processing of anchovies in the Mediterranean. Through her formal research and experimentation, she will explore the relationships between eco-feminism, colonialism, and social struggles, questioning how the creative process and the work itself can support these dynamics and be part of a form of collective resistance.
Ben Russell (1976, USA) is an artist, filmmaker, and curator based in Marseille. His work lies at the intersection of experimental cinema, visual anthropology, and documentary imagery. He exhibited at documenta 14 (2017), and his works have been presented at the Centre Pompidou, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, the Tate Modern, and at prestigious festivals including the Venice Film Festival and the Berlinale. He also develops curatorial activities with projects such as Magic Lantern (Providence, USA, 2005-2007), BEN RUSSELL (Chicago, USA, 2009-2011), Hallucinations (Athens, Greece, 2017), and Double Vision (Marseille, France 2024-).
His residency project consists of the writing, research, and development of a non-fiction film/installation entitled The Smiling Ghost, a work that reimagines Rome’s contemporary ruins through the eyes of a ghost. From the underground network of Rome’s abandoned historical sites to the above-ground reconstructions of ancient Rome, from the decay of modern stadiums to the vibrant squats of the Centri Sociali Occupati Autogestiti, his project seeks to uncover the forms by which the present reframes, transforms, and inhabits the past.
An artist residency, multidisciplinary art center, and 7-hectare heritage site, the Académie de France in Rome – Villa Medici welcomes nearly 70 artists, authors, and researchers each year for stays of varying lengths, including 16 residents in residence for one year. The competition to select residents for the 2025-2026 academic year has just closed. Following the selection process, for which 752 applications were submitted, the jury selected 16 winners. This new cohort of residents, representing eight artistic disciplines and eight different nationalities, will be hosted at the Villa Medici starting September 2025 for a one-year residency of creation, experimentation, and research. Residents will receive a residency grant, housing, and a workspace.
French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici
Viale della Trinità dei Monti, 1
00187 Roma
https://www.villamedici.it/
