Eva Nielsen, Clément Cogitore, Mathieu Mercier, Marie Sirgue, El Seed, Raphaël Barontini, Amélie Bertrand, Thomas Bayrle, among others, winners of the various project calls, have created textile works whose scale, deployment, and diversity celebrate tapestry as a contemporary artistic medium.

With the same energy, the creation of two large tapestries inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Hayao Miyazaki extends the history of textile imaginations into monumental tapestries. A current public art commission, “Homage to George Sand,” entrusted to Françoise Pétrovitch, will project tapestry into the realm of monumental installation.

The Cité de la tapisserie, with a focus on research and development, continues to enthusiastically explore the artistic writing of its textile identity and further deploys the tapestry medium elsewhere. As the Cité is currently doing with Gaspar Willmann and his jacquard woven work, a pictorial tribute to a historical figure from the Nouvelle-Aquitaine territories.

Historically, tapestry carries the program of a narrative, a defined figuration that develops in the domestic, interior space, presenting and offering a subject to be read. The decorative role of woven objects is central to the arrangement of living spaces. Finally, tapestry, as a living creative medium, is keen to update its expression in response to new models of reality: an echo chamber of the images and thoughts of the world. In the context of the centenary of the great 1925 International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris, the 2025 project call invites artists to think of woven images as constellations on the surfaces of a space.

Candidates must choose one of the following three approaches:

• Salon of Woven Objects (a prospective approach to the author’s expression, developed and applied to the surface of a variety of objects, with a spirit of unity or coordination, as understood in textile creation)
• Paradise of Decorative Arts (in an ensemble approach, coordinating craftsmanship and the diversity of materials to construct the “room” of a living arts concept)
• Period Room of the Future (with a prospective dimension of scenario and fiction – design fiction – accompanying the overall decorative ensemble)

For all three topics, particular attention will be given to how contemporary images and imaginations are mobilised by the candidates in their proposals.

The project call for creation by the Cité internationale de la tapisserie in Aubusson aims to promote contemporary tapestry as a medium to artists’ knowledge and desire, including emerging artists, newly or recently graduated.

Eligible to apply for this project call:

• Professional artists and creators
• Young artists falling into one of the following categories: graduates in design, architecture, landscape, graphic design, photography, style, fashion, arts, applied arts, decorative arts, students or enrolled in master’s or doctoral programs in the aforementioned fields.

Objective of the Project Call

The objective of the project call is to enable the acquisition by the Cité internationale de la tapisserie and the art of weaving of models (3D) for furniture sets that include woven elements (rugs, wall tapestries, or upholstery) with a combined surface area of 12m², detailed models (2D) of woven elements that will allow their realisation using the Aubusson tapestry technique, digital jacquard, knotting, or tufting, as well as sketchbooks corresponding to the other furniture elements designed by the artists. The Cité also acquires the weaving and publishing rights for the proposed furniture sets.

The first three ranked creators by the Jury will receive:

• 1st prize: €15,000 including taxes
• 2nd prize: €10,000 including taxes
• 3rd prize: €6,000 including taxes

Deadline for submitting applications: Friday, 21 March 2025 at 5:00 p.m.