Cité internationale des arts, Creative residency in Paris, France

The Cité internationale des arts is a creative residency providing studios and living quarters for artists at two locations in Paris. The facility offers workspace for painters, musicians, writers, and performers in separate studios equipped for different artistic practices.

The idea was proposed by Finnish artist Eero Snellman at the 1937 Exposition Internationale. After World War II, Félix and Simone Brunau revived it: an association was created in 1947, becoming a foundation in 1957. The Marais building, designed by Prix de Rome architects Paul Tournon, Olivier-Clément Cacoub and Ngo Viet Thu, was inaugurated in 1965 on the site of îlot 16, destroyed in 1942.

The Cité opens its studios to the public on Wednesday evenings, when visitors can meet the more than 300 artists staying there at once. Cultural programming is led by Natasa Petresin-Bachelez, who also organises exhibitions of residents' work. Artists in exile from Jordan, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Belarus and Palestine are hosted through programmes backed by the Ministry of Culture, the City of Paris and associations such as France terre d'asile.

The Marais site at 18 rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville faces Île Saint-Louis; the Montmartre site is at 16 rue Girardon. Studios are private, but the public can enter the Marais building on Wednesday evenings for open studios, when over 300 residents show work. Check the programme before travelling, as access is otherwise limited to residents and invited guests.

The Marais site stands on the plot of îlot no. 16, destroyed in 1942 under the Vichy regime; the City of Paris granted an emphyteutic lease for the live-work studios. The complex was designed by Prix de Rome architects Paul Tournon (1911), Olivier-Clément Cacoub (1953) and Ngô Viết Thụ (1955).