Documents d’artistes Occitanie’s (DDA Occitanie) mission is to document artists’ work through publishing digital dossiers – containing reproductions of their work, exhibition views, videos, texts, biobibliographies… – following a specific methodology shared by the Documents d’artistes national network.
The website compiles a concise panorama of creation at a regional level by providing the artists’ dossiers, critiques, in-depth articles about the regional scene and edited, themed trails.
As a resource centre, idea lab, space for experimentation and structuring device, Documents d’artistes is an essential link for the contemporary art sector in the Occitania region, bringing together the artists as well as all the visual arts professionals.
Our public
The Documents d’artistes Occitanie website is intended for visual artists, the sector’s professionals and an art-loving audience.
Every year it offers support for the selected artists, allowing them to question their practice in the long term and orientate their circulation strategy – from the research process up to creating an exhibition or publishing a catalogue or book. Documents d’artistes guarantees visibility for each artist, regardless of their generation, preferred media, practise or distribution network, wherever they live in the Occitania region.
For professionals, it offers work and market research tools in order to favour the circulation of practises and collaboration within the region. By guaranteeing the structuring of an art scene in Occitania, Documents d’artistes encourages its players’ outreach on a national and international level.
Documents d’artistes allows for deeper knowledge and practise by sharing accessible and new documentation about the works and creators we support.
Our methodology
The digital dossiers’ creation is determined by one basic principle: in collaboration with the artists. This closeness allows us to follow and show their practice’s development and accompany them in the long-term, in a trusting and cooperative relationship.
The digital dossier brings together a set of information and data chosen with the artist, with the aim of making their process tangible and facilitating the readability of their oeuvre’s.
Each dossier is regularly updated, guaranteeing the collection’s relevance and effectiveness and reflecting an artistic scene as well as contemporary art practices’ evolution.
The DDA Occitanie website has three entries:
- Artists
- In perspective
- About
The Artists entry houses the digital dossiers in alphabetical order of the artists’ names.
Each dossier is organised in three parts:
- The Artworks page shows a selection of the artist’s work, presents exhibition views, visuals taken from series or single pieces, sketches, models, legends and explanatory notes.
- The Points of reference page assembles various resources at the artist’s or professionals’ suggestion – keywords, studio views, note- or sketchbooks, references, critiques, audio or filmed interviews…
- The CV page contains information about the artist’s career and contact details for them or their gallery.
The In Perspective entry proposes edited content produced by the DDA Occitanie team or by other professionals: in-depth articles about the contemporary art scene in the Occitania region, critiques on the artists presented in the collection, audio or filmed interviews…
Once a year a call for applications is addressed to the Occitania region’s artists. After the call, a selection committee gathers and selects around ten artists who will enter the collection the following year.
How does it work?
Selection process
The committee is made up of leading figures (artists, cultural players, exhibition curators, critics, art directors, (curators), professors, gallerists…). DDA Occitanie chooses the committee, ensuring a plurality of gazes, cultural and age diversity as well as parity. In order to guarantee an eclectic collection the committee members are renewed every year.
How to apply
The artists who wish to become part of the collection must submit their dossier during the annual call for applications, which is published once per year, normally in August - September.
Applicants must:
- Live and work in the Occitania region on a regular basis
- Have a regular professional art practice and have a profuse production that justifies its documentation
- Work in the field of contemporary creation in the visual arts
- Exhibit regularly in France or abroad.