Valeria Fayad
Chargée de mission pour les relations internationales
Téléphone : 33(0) 1 53 79 88 23
“Résidence Culture” and “Parcours de collections” are two programmes from the French Ministry of Culture which make it possible to welcome international culture professionals at the BnF for a duration of one, two or three months. During their stay, residents are accompanied by an advisor. They work on one main subject, collection or project that is closely linked to the collections or to the current activities of the BnF.
Malian librarians at the BnF © Béatrice Lucchese / BnF
The programme is selective. The call for applicants is held yearly following a calendar set up by the French Ministry of Culture.
Applications for the year 2024 are currently open. The deadline for submission to the BnF is 18 September 2023.
Before sending the application to the BnF, the application must be sent to the cultural service of the French Embassy in the applicant’s country for a reasoned opinion.
Download the form Résidence Culture
Download the form Parcours de collections
You can apply by sending the completed application form (in Word format) and a copy of your passport by email to Valeria Fayad.
The programme is aimed at seasoned professionals working in cultural institutions outside of France in an operational capacity whose projects are related to the collections and services, scientific work, cultural programs, management or development projects of the BnF.
Applicants must propose a concrete professional project based on knowledge and skills exchanges, the outcome of which can contribute to the reinforcement of relations between the BnF and their institutions and countries of origin.
The main elements which are taken into consideration by the BnF are:
Transportation to France is paid for by applicants. It can be funded by their institution or by any other type of support.
The chosen professionals go through a rigorous selection process.
The cultural services of the Embassies of France receive the call for application from the Ministry of Culture and communicate it to relevant institutions. They collect applications and conduct the first screening process. Once this first evaluation has been done by these services, the applications can be sent to the BnF.
Once at the BnF, applications are transmitted to the International Relations Delegation. The delegation takes into account the context according to the current relations between the BnF and the institution or country of origin. The application forms are then transmitted to the directions and departments likely to welcome the applicants. They then evaluate and formulate an opinion about the proposed project following criteria of interest, availability and skills. All applications are examined by a commission presided by the International Relations Managing Director.
After validation by the BnF General Direction, applications are transmitted with due feedback to the Ministry of Culture which is in charge of the final selection process.
“Résidence Culture” is a programme that welcomes international culture professionals in France. The programme was set up in 2003 by the Ministry of Culture, making it a priority as an international programme. It is operated by French public cultural institutions under the guidance of the Ministry.
The objective of Profession Culture is to favour exchanges between culture professionals. Professionals have the ability to experience French cultural practices from up close. Its goal is to favour the creation of a sustainable network of exchanges between public institutions in France and across the world.
Mr Sisay Sahile BEYENE (programme “Parcours des collections”), assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Gondar, Ethiopia
Mr Watson FRANÇOIS, Head of the Children’s Section at the National Library of Haiti
Mr Illiassou OUSSEINI MOUSSA, Head of the Audiovisual Department at the Research Institute in Human Sciences of the Abdou Moumouni University (IRSH), Niger
Mr Thi Thanh Thuy TRUONG, librarian in charge of English, French and Vietnamese collections at the National Library of Vietnam
Ms Jana FRANKOVA, researcher at the Music Department of the Moravian Library, Czech Republic
M. Jaroslav STANOVSKY, researcher at the Department of Old Prints and Manuscripts of the Moravian Library, Czech Republic
Mr João Marcos CARDOSO, curator in charge of the creation of tools for dissemination and enhancement of the digital library, Biblioteca Brasiliana Guita e José Mindlin, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
Ms Mbene DIACK, Head of the Collections Management and Development Division at the Administrative and Legal Library, Senegal Archives Department
Ms Boubacar DIALLO, Head of the editing, publication and communication department at the Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu, Mali
Mr Seyed HAKIM, senior researcher for cataloging of Islamic (Arabic and Persian) manuscripts, National library and Archives of Iran
Mr Dhir SARANGI, professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Center for French and Francophone Studies, New Delhi, India
Mr Makhone TOURE, archives curator, head of the Contemporary Archive Division at the Senegal Archives
Launched in 2022 by the Ministry of Culture, the programme “Parcours de collections” aims to welcome foreign professionals from museums, libraries and historical monuments, in order to study and document the history and path of objects held in the collections of French museums and other cultural institutions. It allows professionals who are specialists in their own country to help identify these objects, to exchange and dialogue with their French colleagues in order to achieve a better common knowledge of this history. This programme is dedicated to the African continent as a priority, but not exclusively.
Chargée de mission pour les relations internationales
Téléphone : 33(0) 1 53 79 88 23