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Villa Hegra: A Home for Franco-Saudi Creativity
Meet & Greet
Lafayette Anticipations9 rue du Platre 75004 PARIS Like the Villa Medici, the Villa Kujoyama, the Casa de Velázquez, and the Villa Albertine, the Villa Hegra joins the network of French residences abroad. When it was founded, Gaël Charbau and Basmah Felemban (artistic directors) decided to invite a designer to AlUla for a residency to design the furniture for the Villa’s artist studios, produced entirely in Saudi Arabia in collaboration with local artisans. French designer Paul Emilieu Marchesseau thus spent over a year in residence at Villa Hegra. Today, he talks to us about his project for modular, eco-friendly furniture within this emerging institution.
Inaugurated in October 2025 in AlUla, Villa Hegra is the first institution dedicated to intercultural dialogue and creative exchange between France and Saudi Arabia.
[size= 11pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap]It develops residency programs and public initiatives in the fields of visual arts, film, research, performing arts, and, more broadly, the creative industries, with the aim of fostering sustainable collaborations between the French and Saudi cultural ecosystems and, more broadly, bringing together local practices, younger generations, and international perspectives. Villa Hegra is a member of the international residency network Viva Villa, alongside Villa Medici (Rome), Villa Kujoyama (Kyoto), Casa de Velázquez (Madrid), Villa Albertine (United States), and Villa Swagatam (India). Its artistic direction, led by Gaël Charbau and Basmah Felemban, has made the design residency one of the cornerstones of its programming from the very beginning: Paul Emilieu Marchesseau was invited to work on some of the venue’s spaces and furnishings.[/size]
[size= 11pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap]On the occasion of this event, [/size][size= 11pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap]Fériel Fodil[/size][size= 11pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap], executive director of Villa Hegra, [/size][size= 11pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap]Gaël Charbau[/size][size= 11pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap], its artistic director, and designer [/size][size= 11pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap]Paul Emilieu Marchesseau[/size][size= 11pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap] reflect on the founding stages and the Villa’s upcoming programming.[/size]
[size= 11pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap]Talk moderated by [/size][size= 11pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap]Arnaud Morand[/size][size= 11pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap].[/size]