Welcoming and training professionals: Culture Residency

Culture Residency (Résidence Culture) is a programme from the French Ministry of Culture which makes it possible to welcome culture professionals from abroad at the BnF for a duration of one, two or three months. During their stay, residents are accompanied by a BnF tutor. 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

About the programme

objectives

Profession Culture is a programme that welcomes culture professionals from abroad 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 abroad.

Joining the programme

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 2022 are closed. You can however consult the application conditions in the form below.

Download the form (in French)

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 strong project based on knowledge and skills exchanges, the outcome of which can contribute to the reinforcement of relations between the BnF and their institutions/countries of origin.

The main elements which are taken into consideration by the BnF are:

Interest by the relevant BnF department for the project
Potential dissemination of the applicant’s project back home and promotional opportunities (publications, conferences, events, etc.)
Potential in-depth cooperation prospects between the BnF and the applicant’s institution of origin

Applicants can stay for 1, 2 or 3 months
Each resident joins a BnF department and is accompanied by a ‘tutor’ with expertise in the resident’s field
Housing is provided for by the BnF
A 1500€ per month allowance is allocated by the French Ministry of Culture

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 can collect applications and conduct the first screening process. Alternatively, applications can be sent directly to the BnF, requested by the BnF itself or be transmitted through the Ministry of Culture.

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.

The participants

2021 residents

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

Subject: To establish a selection of documents relating to Franco-Brazilian relations for their digitisation, as well as for the development of the ‘France-Brazil’ Shared Heritage website
Host Department: Literature and Art Department, Collections Department

Ms Mbene DIACK, Head of the Collections Management and Development Division at the Administrative and Legal Library, Senegal Archives Department

Subject: The improvement and appropriation of digitisation techniques (especially for the press), follow-up of a first residence in 2019.
Host department: Conservation department, Services and Networks department

Ms Boubacar DIALLO, Head of the editing, publication and communication department at the Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu, Mali

Subject: To catalogue historical and religious manuscripts of the Umarine Library (continuation of the 2019 residency).
Host department: Manuscripts department, Collections department

Mr Seyed HAKIM, senior researcher for cataloging of Islamic (Arabic and Persian) manuscripts, National library and Archives of Iran

Subject: to identify the heritage of the Safavid royal library at the BnF and its history.
Host department: Manuscripts department, Collections department

Mr Dhir SARANGI, professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Center for French and Francophone Studies, New Delhi, India

Subject: To create of a digital library of the visual collection relating to India as part of the BnF’s “France-India” project.
Host department: Manuscripts department, Collections department

Mr Makhone TOURE, archives curator, head of the Contemporary Archive Division at the Archives nationales of Senegal

Subject: To carry-out a cross-inventory of the press collections published in French West Africa kept at the National Archives of Senegal and at the BnF in a double perspective of completeness of the collections, and to create a digital portal of the National Archives of Senegal (follow-up of the 2018 residency).
Host Department: Department of Law, Economics and Politics, Direction of Collections

2020 residents

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. (Residency shortened due to the COVID-19 health crisis)

Subject: To establish a selection of documents relating to Franco-Brazilian relations for their digitisation, as well as for the development of the ‘France-Brazil’ Shared Heritage website
Host Department: Literature and Art Department, Collections Department

Ms Soňa ŠINCLOVÁ, director of the project management department at the Moravian Library, Czech Republic

Subject: An in-depth study of the partially unpublished collection of the Franco-Czech composer Anton Reicha as part of the partnership between the Moravian Library and the BnF on the occasion of the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of his birth
Host department: Music department, Collections department

2019 residents

Ms Nesrine ABDELMEGUID, Head of the Non-Arab Collection Cataloging Unit at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt

Subject: To study new cataloging and record exchanging standards in order to permit a better interoperability of the metadata of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Host department: Metadata department, Services and Networks department

Mr Nabil AWED, Librarian at the Coptic Archaeological Society in Cairo, Egypt

Subject: The creation of a detailed scientific catalog of the Coptic manuscripts in Bohairic dialect which are kept at the BnF
Host department: Manuscripts department, Collections department

Ms Mbene DIACK, Head of the Collections Management and Development Division at the Administrative and Legal Library, Senegal Archives Department

Subject: To study the process of digitising historical newspapers at the BnF in order to apply it to the archives of Senegal with the goal of enriching the Francophone digital library
Host department: Conservation department, Services and Networks department

Ms Boubacar DIALLO, Head of the editing, publication and communication department at the Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu, Mali

Subject: To list, select and describe the manuscripts of El hadj Oumar in order to publish bibliographic records on the BnF website in alignment with international standards of the standards used by IHERI-AB
Host department: Manuscripts department, Collections department

Ms Adjarata KONE, Head of the Conservation Office at the National Library of Côte d’Ivoire

Subject: To carry out a cross-inventory of the BnF and BNCI collections in order to give them better visibility and contribute to the enrichment of the Francophone digital library
Host department: Coordination mission, Collections department

Mr Luong Ninh NGUYEN, Digital content creation team leader for the National Library of Vietnam

Subject: The identification of Indochinese holdings kept by the BnF with the goal of supplying the Vietnamese digital library and the France-Vietnam website
Host Department: Literature and Art Department, Collections Department

Mr Achal PANDYA, Director of the preservation department at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), India

Subject: To establish a conservation inventory of part of the Indian collection (miniatures, manuscripts, etc.)
Host department: Manuscripts department, Collections department

Mr Patrick TARDIEU, Curator at the Haitian Library of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit (BHPSE), Haiti

Subject: To carry out an inventory of funds dealing with Santo Domingo and Haiti and to establish a documentary selection likely to be digitised in order to make it available in Gallica and the Francophone digital library
Host Department: Orientation and Bibliographic Research Department, Collections Department

2018 residents

Ms Namou Sane Haidara, researcher and archivist, in charge of digital and physical manuscripts conservation by the Ministry of Culture, Timbuktu cultural mission, Mali

Subject: Studying conservation and restoration techniques for manuscripts of Ancient Mali conserved at the BnF and in Bamako
Host Department: Department of Conservation, Direction of Services and Networks

Ms Sonja Ivanovic, librarian, in charge of publications exchange and international cooperation at the Matica Srpska Library, Serbia

Subject: Studying the contents and management of the Slavonic Department at the BnF, particularly in the Balkans and the former Yugoslavia sectors
Host Department: Department of Literature and Art, Direction of Collections

Ms Angela Maria Monteiro Bettencourt, coordinator at the Digital Library, National Library of Brazil

Subject: Developing and enriching the France-Brazil website to integrate the Shared Heritage collection
Host Department: Department of Literature and Art, Direction of Collections

Mr Makhone Toure, archives curator, head of the Contemporary Archive Division at the Archives Nationales of Senegal

Subject: Following up a 2017 internship on the material and intellectual preservation of the colonial press published in French West Africa (AOF) conserved in Paris and Dakar
Host Department: Department of Law, Economics and Politics, Direction of Collections