Déchets d’arts with Mancomunidad Taula del Senia, Unfinished Art Space and Olive Tree Road had selected the first 5 local and international artists for the residencies in Spain, Malta and Greece!
Artistic residency in Tarragona, Spain
Laurent Gongora and Manel Raga are currently in Spain, from 4 to 8 May 2025, with Mancomunidad Taula del Senia for an initial phase of location scouting, meetings with local stakeholders and the object they will be working on for their residency: 2 dead olive trees. For this residency, the artists are looking at the notions of heritage and waste, how one is transformed into the other, or not, and how the artist’s intervention plays a role in this process.
After this meeting Laurent Gongora will return for the production phase of the artwork from 26 May to 4 June 2025.
Presentation of the artists
Laurent Gongora :
After a scientific career in civil engineering and materials physics, Laurent Gongora turned to artistic creation, entering the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg, where he obtained his DNSEP in 2007. An intervention artist, he has been resident at 6b in Saint-Denis since 2011 and works mainly in the field of public art. His work is characterised by a cross-disciplinary approach between social design and site-specific art. What interests him in public sculpture is its integration into reality. He proposes that an art object should be perceived in the same way as an everyday object. It can therefore act on reality, and the public can make it their own.
Manel Raga :
Manel Raga was born in Ulldecona in 1985. After co-directing the documentary short film MATANDO EL SUEÑO (2009), he completed a M.A. in Filmmaking at ESCAC in Barcelona. In 2013 he presented the short film LA GALLINA in the Venice Film Festival, a film that won more than fifteen awards and that was in many film festivals around the world. In 2017, he completed a PhD of Liberal Arts in Filmmaking at the film.factory of Sarajevo, a school mentored by Béla Tarr. In 2022, he participated in the Berlinale Talents and currently, he is working in the production of VATRA, which will be his first feature film as a director.
Aside from his work as a director, Manel Raga has also participated in various projects as an assistant director, director of photography, or camera operator, regularly collaborating with filmmakers such as Béla Tarr, André Gil Mata, Pilar Palomero, Marta Hernaiz Pidal, Sunčica Fradelić, Luciano Pérez Savoy, or Gustavo Vega.
Artistic residency in Birżebbuġa, Malta
The second residency, entitled Coastal Commons and curated by Elyse Tonna, will take place in the town of Birżebbuġa, Malta, and is led by Unfinished Art Space and Déchets d’Arts in collaboration with environmental NGO Żibel. Artists Joachim Romain and Sheldon Saliba, together with local residents and NGOs active in Birżebbuġa, will activate a coastal site through the creation of public artworks that incorporate repurposed marine waste and respond to the surrounding environment, engaging the space both functionally and aesthetically.
Conceived as an exploration of the Maltese coastal commons, the project frames the shoreline as a liminal territory – caught between extraction and care, transit and permanence. It invites reflection on how shared coastal spaces can be reimagined as sites of repair, negotiation and co-authorship between human and ecological communities.
Prior to and throughout the residency, a number of initiatives will be organised including sea and land clean-ups in Birżebbuġa, an awareness-raising campaign with Żibel, collective building sessions, focus groups and workshops. These all aim to foster deeper community involvement and dialogue around coastal care.
The artistic residency will take place from 18 to 27 June 2025.
Presentation of the artists
Joachim Romain:
Joachim Romain, visual artist, has made his home at 6b (Saint-Denis) since 2012, weaving a deep bond with Seine-Saint-Denis. Joachim draws the raw material for his art from the vast canvas that is the department, capturing the bubbling energy of urban life and the constant tension between tradition and modernity.
Constantly on the lookout, he travels across cities and countries, tirelessly capturing the changing face of street “monuments”. He collects images of stratified advertising posters, eroding walls covered in graffiti, accumulations of paper and organic matter that litter the ground or cling to poles, railings, gates, promotional columns, wall-mounted gas boxes and electricity meter boxes…
Sheldon Saliba:
Sheldon Saliba (b.2000) is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Malta, with an interest in socio-environmental issues. Currently, his
practice explores landscapes in constant flux in both rural and urban environments, investigating aspects related to the post-/Anthropocene including extraction, territorialisation and identifying alternative ways of living. His work uncovers the multiplicity of land use and investigates the dichotomy of human-made and natural materials. He is currently reading for an MA in Fine Arts within the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Malta.
Artistic residency in Kalamata, Greece
The third residency, for which Kabrit has been selected, will take place in September 2025. The name of the second artist will be revealed later. For this residency, the theme of waste reduction in the Mediterranean, and more specifically the issue of plastic in everyday Greek life, will be tackled through the creation of a multidisciplinary work of art.
Presentation of the artists
Kabrit:
Kabrit started painting in 2007 on the streets of Beirut. Very quickly, the free and accessible aspect of graffiti encouraged him to create bridges between different public and to use it to get messages across.
After studying fine art, he went on to study animation. This new medium enabled him to diversify his modes of visual expression. His short film Amal (Forum des Images 2019), which has been shown at a number of festivals, deals with the human theme of exile. Drawing on these experiences, Kabrit’s immersive installation Weightless, on show at Beit Beirut (La Maison Jaune) from September 2022 to June 2023, is a dreamlike visual wander through the story of a childhood in parallel with the city. In 2023, the experimental film ‘Les Chenilles’, made for the Lyon Biennial by the Lebanese artist-militant duo Michelle and Noël Kesserwany, with whom he frequently collaborates, won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale. The artistic environments in which Kabrit evolves constantly inspire him in his creations, collaborations and commissions. In his work, there is always this poetry, this desire to create dialogue and to draw attention to a gaping wound or a beauty that is too discreet, this propensity to trigger a poignant nostalgia or an assertive militancy.
Kostas Louzis (Skitsofrenis):
He signs as “Skitsofrenis” and with his works he attempts to put a brake on the schizophrenia of the time. Kostas Louzis wants to transmit positive energy, believing that problems will be overcome through dialogue and calm, not through shouting and conflict.
His works have transformed the dirty walls of various areas of Kalamata into a canvas of artistic expression and a transmitter of positive reflection. Kostas Louzis “refuses to hate” and invites us to do the same, because, as he says, what unites us is more than what divides us.
Artists’ departure meeting at Transfo – Saint-Denis:
Before the departure of the international artists in residence, Déchets d’Arts is organising a get-together with them to discuss and exchange views on the various artistic projects in progress or under consideration.
On 23 May 2025, the artists Laurent Gongora, Joachim Romain, Kabrit and other artists who have already responded to the Open Call will meet at the Transfo Déchets d’Arts in Saint-Denis.
Open Call for Expression of Interest for inclusion in an international long list of Artists Engaging in Art Practices Referring to Eco-Conscious Matters – Sustainable Art Residencies 2025-2026:
On 7 March 2025, Déchets d’Arts published an international call for applications to encourage artists to take part in the residencies.
Link to the call for projects