Located in Algiers, Algeria, the Villa Abd-el-Tif is a Moorish villa notable for being established in 1907. It was designed in emulation of the French Academy in Rome, the Villa Medici. Until 1962, it served as the home for the laureates of the Abd-el-Tif prize, who were offered bursaries to continue their studies for two years in Algeria.
Unlike the Villa Médici in Rome, there was no permanent French director at this site. Instead, the artists were required to organize the villa's activities in Algeria as part of their bursary conditions. The villa was not intended for the teaching of local artists, as that education was already provided at the École supérieure des beaux-arts d'Alger, which was established in 1843.
Following the independence of the country, the villa was abandoned but was classified as a historical monument in 1967 and restored before reopening in 2008. It now houses the headquarters of the Agence algérienne pour le rayonnement culturel (AARC). The bursary model used here was later imitated for the Prix d'Indochine for painters from 1920 to 1939, and finally for painters and composers in residence at the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid from 1929 to the present.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Mutabor
Discuss this with the author and others
No comments yet. Be the first to start the conversation.