Gulbenkian Residency & Thanks for Nothing – Creation and Social Commitment 2026

2026 Resident : Manuela Jardim

3-month residency from Monday, March 23 to Monday, June 29, 2026

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Thanks for Nothing are pleased to announce the selection of Manuela Jardim as the laureate of the second edition of the Gulbenkian & Thanks for Nothing Residency – Creation and Social Commitment, which will take place in Paris over a period of 3 months starting March 23, 2026. This residency welcomes a Lusophone artist from the African continent and aims to promote an engaged artistic practice addressing social and environmental themes, while fostering the inclusion of audiences with limited access to culture through co-creation workshops.

A unique project of creation and solidarity

Driven by the shared values of both organizations and supported by the agency IOTA, le bureau des heures invisibles and Plateau Urbain, this residency celebrates committed artistic practices.

Manuela Jardim

Born in Guinea-Bissau, Manuela Jardim lives and works in Lisbon. Trained in sculpture, she has developed a cross-disciplinary practice combining painting, sculpture, installation and textile. Her work is grounded in a particular attention to materials, which she explores as vectors of memory, transformation and transmission.

Social inclusion through art and co-creation

A solidarity-based initiative will allow beneficiaries of the Aurore association and schoolchildren from the 14th arrondissement to engage in a participatory creative process fostering social bonds. Manuela Jardim will co-create works with these audiences at La Roche (the former La Rochefoucauld hospital), in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, which currently hosts a temporary occupation project led by Plateau Urbain.

A multi-voiced exhibition

The works produced during the co-creation workshops will give rise to an exhibition presented for one month at La Roche, with an opening night on Thursday, June 11 from 5 to 9 PM. This exhibition will bring together both works from the co-creation workshops and a selection of pieces by Manuela Jardim, created in Lisbon or produced during the residency.

Manuela Jardim will benefit from:

• Financial support;
• The organisation of co-creation workshops with underserved audiences;
• A one-month exhibition at La Roche;
• Tailored mentoring, including meetings with art professionals, gallery owners, curators and journalists;
• Accommodation provided by le bureau des heures invisibles;
• A studio at IOTA Studios, at the heart of an artistic ecosystem dedicated to contemporary creation.

The selection committee was composed of:

• Teresa Castro, Director of the French delegation of the Gulbenkian Foundation
• Amandine Nana, Curator, author, poet, researcher at the Palais de Tokyo
• Agnès Perpitch, Director of the IOTA agency
• Marie-Charlotte Plagnol, Project Manager, Galerie MAGNIN-A
• Marie-Cécile Zinsou, President of the Fondation Zinsou
• Thanks for Nothing:
– Marine Van Schoonbeek, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
– Gaëlle Porte, Projects Director
– Antoinette Vincent, Artistic Projects and Administrative Manager
– Hélène de Montalembert, Programming and Production Manager

Exhibition

Construir Ideias/ Building Ideas
Manuela Jardim – La Roche, Paris

10 June 2026 – 27 June 2026

In the lobby of the former La Rochefoucauld Hospital, Manuela Jardim presents a body of work in which the personal and the collective intertwine. Born in Guinea-Bissau, the artist draws on West African textile traditions to transform fabric into a living language, filled with memories, bodies and stories. Hand-picked plants, jute cloth, recycled paper: her humble materials bear traces of cultural and colonial exchanges, brought to life through her artistic practice. The exhibition presents both personal works and creations resulting from workshops held with a variety of participants during her residency in Paris. And this adventure continues: a table and facilitators are present throughout the exhibition to welcome new participants to co-creation workshops. Everyone is invited to add their own motifs to the collective fabric; the exhibition thus grows over the weeks, enriched by every voice and every gesture. This exhibition is part of the residency supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation and Thanks for Nothing, curated by Thanks for Nothing. A multifaceted, evolving narrative, where materials and imprints become the vectors of a shared memory.

On display from Thursday 11 to Saturday 27 June 2026
At La Roche, at the following times: