Indian and French creatives to build new bridges through Villa Swagatam as part of the India-France Year of Innovation.
The French Institute in India is pleased to announce the selection of 35 laureates for the fourth edition of its flagship residency programme, Villa Swagatam, which will unfold from August 2026 to August 2027. Bringing together artists, designers, authors, graphic novelists, translators and researchers from France and South Asia, the programme fosters cross-cultural dialogue and creative collaboration through our immersive residencies of one to three months across a network of 30 residency partners in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and France.
The fourth edition of Villa Swagatam takes place within the framework of the India–France Year of Innovation 2026, embracing innovation not simply as a theme, but as a method. Expanding into new geographical, artistic, material and intellectual territories, our residencies encourage mobility, interdisciplinarity and experimentation, while creating fresh opportunities for dialogue between cultural ecosystems across France and South Asia.
Commenting on the launch of this new edition, H.E. Mr Thierry Mathou, Ambassador of France to India, said: "Villa Swagatam has become a remarkable laboratory for Indo-French cultural cooperation and innovation. Each residency creates conditions for artists, writers and thinkers that are conducive to experimentation, unexpected encounters, and imagination of new forms of collaboration. These cultural Passeurs are weaving lasting connections between our two countries, enriching our creative landscapes and giving new depth to the friendship between France and South Asia."
The open call for the fourth edition of Villa Swagatam ran from 17 April to 7 June 2026, inviting candidates from France and India to apply. The programme received 540 individual applications in total.
A striking observation from this year's open call has been the remarkable interest shown by the Indian diaspora in Villa Swagatam. While these artists and authors have built international careers and developed their practices across continents, many remain profoundly connected to India, drawing on its histories, aesthetics and cultural traditions as enduring sources of inspiration. Contemporary dancer and choreographer Aishwarya Raut embodies this transnational dialogue. During her residency at the Centre National de la Danse in Pantin, she will develop a new choreographic work rooted in Indian movement vocabularies, using the time and space of the residency to deepen a practice that, despite its international trajectory, remains intrinsically connected to India In the same vein, multidisciplinary artiste Kirti Virmani, who is based in London, will be in residency with Fondation La Napoule’s international collective residency.
EXPANDING OUR CREATIVE HORIZONS
Crafting new futures: Building on the momentum of the Indo-French textile exhibition Ce qui se trame, presented at the Mobilier National in Paris in December 2025, Villa Swagatam continues to expand its commitment to artistic practices rooted in craftsmanship, material research and sustainability.
For this edition, Kaanchi Chopra will join the Manufactures Nationales, while Gargi Chandola will undertake a residency at the Fondation Thalie in Arles. Through their distinct practices, both artists share a deep engagement with traditional knowledge systems and ecological thinking. Kaanchi Chopra works with wool as a material for artistic expression, exploring its tactile and narrative potential, while Gargi draws on the rich tradition of Indian miniature painting, staging with her characters our contemporary relationship to nature. During their time in France, both artists seek to place their practices in dialogue with new material cultures, artisanal expertise and sustainability.
Villa Swagatam is also broadening its exploration of craftsmanship in Kishangarh, India: StoneX Global will welcome artists Sophia Taillet and Vincent Voillat, whose distinct practices will engage with the region's centuries-old traditions of marble and stone craftsmanship, while drawing on StoneX Global's exceptional technical expertise and extensive repertoire of possibilities for working with these materials.
One of France's leading contemporary art institutions, macLYON will welcome the young and promising Indian ceramist Ayantika Sajwal who recently graduated from the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, to experiment with clay as both a sculptural medium and a repository of artisanal knowledge in the rich geological context of Lyon, making this her first international residency experience outside of India.
Marilou Laneuville, Head of Exhibitions and Publications at macLYON, affirms: "At macLYON, supporting young artists and emerging talents at pivotal moments in their careers is central to our mission. Residencies such as this one offer not only the time and space to experiment, but also the opportunity to enter into dialogue with new artistic, cultural and material contexts. We are delighted to welcome Ayantika and look forward to seeing how her encounter with France's ceramic traditions and our ecosystem will enrich her practice and give rise to new forms of artistic expression."
The Graphic Novel takes centre stage: Graphic storytelling emerges as one of the defining threads of this fourth edition, reflecting the remarkable vitality of the medium in both France and India. French graphic novelist Pierre Dawance will kickstart the upcoming edition with a residency at VAST Bhutan, drawing inspiration from the country's landscapes, architecture and living cultural traditions to develop a new body of graphic work and storytelling. In France, Debangshu Moulik, will undertake his residency at Villa Gillet × Lyon BD (Lyon), where he will also participate in the Lyon BD festival as well as the Littérature Live Lyon.
At the same time, the Maison des auteurs of the Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l'image will host Indian graphic novelists Mia Jose and Charbak Dipta for a residency in Angoulême. Immersed in one of Europe's leading centres for comics and graphic storytelling, they will have the opportunity to develop their projects while engaging with the vibrant creative ecosystem that has made Angoulême an international reference for the ninth art.
Finally, graphic novelist Vidyun Sabhaney will be heading to La Marelle in Marseille, where she will develop a new graphic novel project rooted in speculative fiction and exploring the realities and imaginaries of climate change.
Fanny Pomarède, General Director of La Marelle, comments: “It is a great pleasure to welcome Vidyun Sabhaney to La Marelle as part of Villa Swagatam. Following Parismita Singh’s residency in the previous edition, we are especially delighted to continue supporting the work of women graphic novelists from India whose practices are expanding the possibilities of the form. These residencies create a space where different visual languages, storytelling traditions and creative imaginations can meet. Vidyun’s work, at the crossroads of speculative fiction and ecological reflection, promises to open up a particularly rich and meaningful dialogue between our creative communities.”
Ideas and debates at the foreground of Villa Swagatam: This year, Villa Swagatam also reaffirms its commitment to critical thinking about contemporary social, ecological and cultural challenges. Artist, curator and researcher Aastha Chauhan will join the Institut d'études avancées de Nantes, where she will explore how artistic initiatives are shaped by, and in turn shape, the communities they engage with. Meanwhile, acclaimed novelist Shubhangi Swarup will become the first Villa Swagatam resident in La Réunion, undertaking a residency with LERKA and Banyan - Centre d'art contemporain de la Cité des Arts de la Réunion. Her project will investigate the intertwined ecological histories of the Indian Ocean, tracing connections between La Réunion and the Indian subcontinent through literature.
Laureates 2026 - 2027:
The Villa Swagatam network consists of 30 residences across France and South Asia:
Residencies in South Asia :
Alice Boner Institute (Varanasi) – Olivier Liron, author
Alice Boner Institute (Varanasi) – Marina Chiche, author and musician
Eklavya Foundation (Bhopal) – Cheyenne Olivier, illustrator
Sangam House (Bengaluru) – Paul Greveillac, author
Lakmahal Library (Colombo) – Frank Smith, poet
VAST (Thimphu & Punakha) – Pierre Dawance, graphic novelist
Itinerant Residency (India) – Atiq Rahimi, author
Red House (New Delhi) – Sarah Maeght, author and playwright
Cosmos Foundation (Dhaka) – Saena Delacroix, calligrapher
Hampi Art Labs (Hampi) – Kelly Eng and Marie Piplard (Studio EngPiplard), designers
Jaipur Rugs (Jaipur) – Colombine Jubert & Laëtitia Rouget (Pangea), artists and designers
Kalhath Institute (Lucknow) – Martin Schepkens & Manuel Leromain, artist and designer
Nila House (Jaipur) – Erika Povilonyté, artist
Public Arts Trust of India (Jodhpur) – Jérémy Demester, artist
Vastrakala (Chennai) – Naomi Lulendo, artist
StoneX Global (Kishangarh) – Sophia Taillet, artist and designer
StoneX Global (Kishangarh) – Vincent Voillat, artist
Residencies in France :
La Maison de la Poésie de Nantes (Nantes) – Jonaki Ray, poet
Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l'image (Angoulême) – Mia Jose, graphic novelist
Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l'image (Angoulême) – Charbak Dipta, graphic novelist
La Maison Julien Gracq (Saint-Florent-le-Vieil) – Khalid Jawed, author
La Marelle (Marseille) – Vidyun Sabhaney, graphic novelist
Villa Gillet × Lyon BD (Lyon) – Debangshu Moulik, graphic novelist
Chalet Mauriac × Villa Valmont (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) – Vasumathi Badrinathan, translator
Institut d'études avancées de Nantes (Nantes) – Aastha Chauhan, artist, educator and curator
LERKA × Banyan - Centre de l’art contemporain (La Réunion) – Shubhangi Swarup, author
Centre National de la Danse (Pantin) – Aishwarya Raut, contemporary dancer and choreographer
La Napoule Art Foundation (Mandelieu-la-Napoule) – Kirti Virmani, artist
Art Scribes Award × Prameya Art Foundation (Mandelieu-la-Napoule) – to be confirmed soon
Manufactures Nationales (Paris & Sèvres) – Kaanchi Chopra, artist
Fondation Thalie (Arles) – Gargi Chandola, artist
macLYON (Lyon) – Ayantika Sajwal, artist
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