IDA Art Residency

IDA art residency aims at providing artists with a supportive environment allowing the development of creativity, research and their artistic work.

The art residency will take place from 15th to 29th June and from 26th September to 10th October 2026, in Tuscany, Italy and host 2 resident artists for each session.

The residency’s theme is "Seeds Grow" and focused on the idea of pushing boundaries, embracing experimentation, and fostering personal and artistic development.

IDA art residency offers artists a stimulating and caring environment in the heart of the Tuscan countryside and its rich heritage.

The residency is open to artists from all over the world, regardless of medium: photography, painting, sculpture, ceramics, video, installation, music, dance.

Artists benefit from curatorial, administrative and logistical support, as well as networking with collectors and corporate clients.

An exhibition showcasing the results of the residency will be held in Paris in July 2027 at Romero Paprocki Gallery.

Program & Application

Meet the 2026 Laureates

The four laureates come from various backgrounds and work in diverse disciplines.

Kang Chunhui (b. 1982, Urumchi, Xinjiang) graduated with her MFA from Seoul National University in 2010 focusing on video art. In 2006, she went to the Kizil Grottos (4th to 8th Centuries) near her hometown of Urumchi to study the early Buddhist mural paintings. The painting materials, technique, style and subject matter of the Kizil Grottos is highly syncretic reflecting Central Asian-Kuchan, Gandharan and Persian-origins and reflecting contemporaneous artistic exchange with Byzantine Europe and historical influence from both India and classical Greece. Kang Chunhui's current artistic practice reinterprets this Central Asia religious painting language within the historical, cultural and sociological context of Xinjiang today.
Kang Chunhui has exhibited at the Xinjiang Art Museum, Urumqi (2023), Wuhan Art Museum, Wuhan (2022), Jiangsu Museum of Modern Art, Nanjing (2021), Drum Tower and Bell Tower of Beijing, Beijing (2021), Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou (2020), Chengdu Museum, Chengdu (2019), The Royal Society of British Artists, London (2018), Today Art Museum, Beijing (2017), University of Sydney Art Gallery, Sydney (2017), University of Hong Kong Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong (2016). Her works have been collected by the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Wuhan Art Museum, Wuhan, Akita Museum of Art, Akita, Guardian Art Center, Bejing, Taikang Group, Beijing, and the Center for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney.

Shiuan Chang, composer and Artist-in-Residency with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra (2025–2027), whose music “grounds memory and emotion” (I CARE IF YOU LISTEN) and is described as “spiritual, light and comforting” (Classic Agenda). His works have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Hall, and Suntory Hall, with commissions from and collaborations with Cloudgate Contemporary Dance Company, Ictus Ensemble, and Tonkunstler Orchestra.

Matisse Mesnil (b. 1989, Castiglion Fiorentino) develops a sculptural practice centered on metal, where technical processes—between craft and industry—directly shape form and renew classical genres such as landscape and still life. His most recent work unfolds through a restrained, contemplative language, engaging with questions of space, materiality, and perception. He lives and works between France and Italy.

Almudena Romero (b. Madrid, 1986) is a British-Spanish visual artist whose practice rethinks photography through plant-based processes such as photosynthesis and photoperiodicity. Her works grow, transform and disappear, exploring photography as an ecological and performative medium.
Her work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Saatchi Gallery and The Photographers’ Gallery, and at festivals including Les Rencontres d’Arles. It has been featured by BBC Four, CNN, El País, Libération and The Art Newspaper. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and lectures internationally at universities, museums and cultural institutions.

Meet the 2026 Jury

The jury composed by six art world protagonists, with an international vision and positive impact.

Auctioneer
Phyllis Kao is an art industry veteran and auctioneer, and currently one of the principal auctioneers for the international auction house Sotheby’s. She has gained recognition for her charismatic performances, multilingual abilities, and for changing expectations of authority in a male-dominated industry.

Ms. Kao grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and holds a degree in History and French from Columbia University. Before entering the auction world, she aspired to be a classical violinist, a rigorous experience that helped her develop stage presence and manage performance pressure. Her career in the auction industry spans nearly two decades, where she has held a variety of positions at major auction houses, including Specialist in Chinese Art and Director of Business Development.

As a principal auctioneer, Ms. Kao works with every category of art in an international auction house, allowing her to work with masterpieces, experts, and major players in every field. In addition to her auction activities, Ms. Kao is a committed philanthropist, regularly donating her time and auctioneer skills to charitable causes globally.

Journalist
George is the UK reporter for ARTnews, and the former Russia correspondent for The Art Newspaper.
Heoften reports on the fakes and forgeries and corruption blighting the Russian modernist market. He’s happiest plumbing the depths of the subterranean, double-dealing, and fraudulent art world, and writes a column on the convergence of luxury and art. Before becoming a journalist, he worked at Christie's in London and for an Old Masters dealer.
George set up ROBOTA, a platform promoting emerging artists from Russia and Eastern Europe in the UK, in 2020.

Romero Paprocki Gallery Founders
Romero Paprocki was founded in 2020 by Guido Romero Pierini and Tristan Paprocki who first collaborate by choosing spaces for their museum-like scale in order to offer a first visibility to emerging artists and match with the quality of the works that are being displayed in them.
After the opening of the first gallery venue in Le Marais in 2022, they focused on mid-career artists with a steady desire to formulate a discourse both scenographic and legible at the artists' service.
Romero Paprocki continues its mission to host compelling exhibitions for its diverse cast of rising artists, while fostering creativity and keep inspiring the Parisian community, and beyond, thanks to international art fairs.

Art Advisors
IDA connects creators & collectors through meaningful, innovative art projects. As a consulting agency specializing in tailored artistic strategies for brands, institutions, & private collectors, IDA supports access art, from acquisitions & commissions to curation, exhibitions, & cultural events. With an international network of artists, galleries, & auction houses, the agency delivers solutions adapted to each client.
Founded by Florence Marmiesse and Camilla D’Alfonso, IDA bridges strategic expertise with artistic insight. With over 19 years of experience at Sotheby’s, Artcurial, and Almine Rech, Florence brings deep market knowledge. A photographer & curator with exhibitions in New York, Milan, Havana, & Los Angeles, Camilla contributes a strong creative vision shaped by collaborations with Gian Paolo Barbieri, Harri Peccinotti, and Patrick Demarchelier.