The City of Poitiers has decided to transform the property of the writer and intellectual Jean-Richard BLOCH, known as "La Mérigote", which it acquired in 2005, into a place of artists' residence: the Villa Bloch.
This property in Poitou, a true haven of peace in a wooded park overlooking the Clain Valley, is indeed a particularly favourable setting for creative work. Jean-Richard BLOCH spoke of "the beautiful loneliness of Merigotine work": it is in this house that he wrote most of his works. Today, it wishes to be able to promote its activity in the territories, by engaging alongside structures that share its challenges and values.
Like a "window on the world", this house was also a place of encounters, passage and conviviality. Many intellectuals, writers and artists stayed there, including Spanish and German writers and poets fleeing repression in their country. As such, a partnership agreement has been signed between Cité internationale des arts and the City of Poitiers with the aim, in particular, of setting up cross residencies for artists in Paris and Poitiers.
For this reason, the City of Poitiers wishes to welcome artists to this property, in the pursuit of and respect for its history, and in tribute to Jean-Richard BLOCH's commitment, to enable them to create.
The City of Poitiers is also now a member of the ICORN network (International Cities of Refuge Network), an international network of cities for freedom of creation, of which only Paris has so far been a member for France. It thus undertakes to be able to receive an author deprived of his freedom of creation in his country of origin.
At Villa Bloch, in mid-January, the Iranian poet Mohammad Bam came to live with his wife and two children for a maximum of two years.
Mohammad Bam was twice imprisoned in his country because of his poems, which he posts on social networks, and could no longer stay in Iran. After passing through Turkey, he joined Poitiers where he plans to continue his creative work thanks to the grant of 1,500 to 2,000 euros per month allocated by the city of Poitiers to artists in residence at Villa Bloch
Other artists will occupy the studios of Villa Bloch. In January, a young graduate of the European School of Image, Alexis Morange, left his suitcases there. The Iranian documentary filmmaker, Anahita Hekmat, is also expected to stay in the Villa to prepare her film thanks to a partnership with the Cité internationale des arts. Finally, the last studio will be occupied by the artists programmed as part of "crossings", an artistic and cultural event of the Palais de Poitiers district project.