PARIS.- Launched in September 2023, the Mennour Institute continues to give concrete expression to its actions. Today announces the awarding of the new “Mennour Fellowship for Art History Research” to two doctoral students.

With a view to encouraging art history writing, the Mennour Institute has devised this original research support, in the form of two grants of €5,000 each, to support the research, writing or publication of the thesis in France or abroad.

As in the previous year, the Mennour Institute received over thirty applications — of students from nineteen French schools and universities — and is delighted with the renewed success of this program.

Research topics could cover all fields related to the history of artistic creation. From the late 19th century to the present day, the history of exhibitions, the art market, as well as issues concerning artistic circulation, exchange and transfer on a global scale.

The jury would like to emphasize the high quality of all the projects examined and to thank all the candidates. This year, it has decided to reward two projects in relatively little-studied fields that merit further research.

Lydia Haddag, for her thesis “The Maghrebian art world in the 20th century: a comparative reading of the history of Algerian and Tunisian art collectives, 1930-1990”, conducted at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Attached to the InVisu research laboratory (CNRS/INHA), under the supervision of Mercedes Volait, Director of research at the CNRS, in co-direction with Alain Messaoudi, Lecturer in contemporary history (HDR). The jury was impressed by the project to reconstruct networks of Maghreb art and artists that were overlooked or forgotten by a history that has favored the analysis of individual trajectories, in key times of Algeria and Tunisia, before and after decolonization. Monica Seiceanu, for her thesis on “Weaving, exhibiting, resisting: a new history of the Cold War through fiber art and the international Tapestry biennials in Lausanne (1962-1995)” conducted at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, part of the HiCSA (History of culture and social art) research laboratory and École doctorale 441, under the supervision of Sophie Delpeux, Associate Professor (HDR) in contemporary art history. The jury was impressed by the choice of this little-studied subject, which complements a more inclusive art history by integrating textile practices that have long been sidelined but have been revalued in recent years.

The jury was composed of:

• Christian Alandete, Scientific Director, Mennour

• Guitemie Maldonado, Professor of General Art History, Beaux- Arts de Paris

• Maureen Murphy, Professor of Art History, Université Paris Nanterre

• Sylvie Patry, Delegate to the Musée d’Orsay’s and Musée de l’Orangerie’s anniversary celebrations

• Estelle Zhong Mengual, Art historian, lecturer in the SPEAP master’s program at Sciences Po Paris and Beaux-Arts de Paris

The jury congratulates the recipients, welcoming the fresh and stimulating nature of their projects and wishes them success in their research.

The next call for applications for the “Mennour Fellowship for Art History Research” will be launched in autumn 2025.

Born in 1995, LYDIA HADDAG is a doctoral student of art history at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, attached to the InVisu laboratory (CNRS/INHA). Her research focuses on the history of artist’s collectives between Algeria and Tunisia, from the 1930s to 1990. A graduate of Sciences Po Paris and EHESS, her dissertation on the painter Sauveur Galliero (1914-1963) and the Môle d’Alger generation was published in 2022. She has worked for museums and cultural organizations in Paris, New York and at UNESCO.

MONICA SEICEANU, born in 2001, is a contract doctoral student at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She specializes in the new tapestry during the Cold War. With a Master’s degree in Art History and a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the same university, she is preparing a thesis on three-dimensional textile art and its feminist aspects. In addition to her academic research, Monica Seiceanu is an independent art critic, with an interest in contemporary artistic practices and theories.