Gulbenkian & Thanks for Nothing Residency – Creation and Social Commitment

2025 Resident: Lizette Chirrime

Residency Dates: April 28th to June 28th, 2025

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Thanks for Nothing are delighted to have welcomed Lizette Chirrime as the recipient of the Gulbenkian & Thanks for Nothing Residency – Creation and Engagement, which took place in Paris in May and June 2025.

This two-month residency, dedicated to a Portuguese-speaking artist from the African continent, supports socially and environmentally engaged artistic practices. It also aims to foster inclusion by reaching audiences who are often distanced from cultural spaces, through co-creation workshops.

An Internationally Connected Program

This project aligns with the ongoing commitments of the Gulbenkian Foundation and Thanks for Nothing to artistic excellence and social responsibility.
With the support of POUSH, KADIST, and the Centre Pompidou, it aimed to enhance the international visibility of Lusophone African artists and to promote a sustainable and inclusive vision of contemporary art.

During the residency, Lizette Chirrime has received:

• Financial support
• Accommodation provided by KADIST
• A studio at POUSH, a renowned space for its dynamic artistic community and professional networks
• Tailored guidance, including meetings with art professionals such as gallery owners curators, and journalists…
• A presentation and activation of her collective work at the Centre Pompidou.

Selection Committee

The 2025 resident was chosen by a panel of art and cultural experts, including:

• Fanny Berriau: Head of Events, Petits Frères des Pauvres.
• KADIST:
Sandra Terdjman: Vice-President, Co-founder of KADIST and AFIELD
Marie Martraire: Collections Director
Anna Ezequel: Program Manager
• Alicia Knock: Head of Contemporary and Prospective Creation at le Musée national d’Art moderne – Centre Pompidou
• Yvannoé Krüger: Director, POUSH
• Miguel Magalhães: Director of the French Delegation, Gulbenkian Foundation.
• Marisol Rodriguez: Curatorial Director, Mariane Ibrahim (Paris, Chicago, Mexico).
• Thanks for Nothing:
Marine Van Schoonbeek, Co-Founder and General Director
Gaëlle Porte, Projects Director, Thanks for Nothing
Hélène de Montalembert, Programming and Production Coordinator
• Euridice Zaituna Kala: Visual Artist – Professor

Social inclusion through art and co-creation

A solidarity-based initiative enabled community groups and school audiences to take part in a participatory creative process.
Lizette Chirrime co-created an artwork with communities that often have limited access to culture at the Centre Pompidou. The work was then presented and reactivated by the wider public at the Centre Pompidou on Saturday, May 17, 2025.

Co-creation workshops

Workshops at the Centre Pompidou, Triangle Room

• As part of the co-creation workshops organized at the Centre Pompidou by Thanks for Nothing and the Gulbenkian Foundation, artist Lizette Chirrime invited participants to collaboratively design a collective textile sculpture made from recycled materials.

• Each participant was encouraged to bring personal items (worn clothing, everyday objects) to be incorporated into the work, symbolically embedding memories, intentions, or stories connected to a journey of healing.

• The workshop offered an artistic and introspective experience centered on transforming pain into creative strength, while raising awareness about the environmental impact of textile waste.

• Inspired by her own practice, Lizette used reclaimed materials as a way to foster reconnection with oneself and with nature, and sought to share this approach by valuing personal expression, collective memory, and respect for all living beings.

Participants

Over the course of a week, a series of six workshops was held, bringing together more than 200 participants, including schools and community organizations:

• École élémentaire des Pyrénées (Paris, 20th arrondissement)
• Collège Jean Lurçat (Villejuif)
• ESAT Camille Hermange
• Salvation Army
• La Chorba
• Droit à l’école
• La Maison des femmes
• Ikambéré
• La Puissance du lien