Residency Programme
Two-week self-directed residencies for anyone seeking the time and space to recuperate or work independently on their own projects, sheltered from the distractions and demands of contemporary society.
What we offer is somewhere between a traditional residency and a holiday. Some use the time to create a new body of work or undertake new research; others choose to work on something neglected or not yet formed. Some wish only to recuperate and reflect in peaceful and traditional surroundings.
Residents stay in one of four beautiful self-catering apartments in our seventeenth-century townhouse, with access to the adjoining ateliers, pottery studio and writers' room. The Casa is situated in the medieval town of Montmorillon, with everything you need close at hand. You can explore our apartments and studios or discover more about the town and its surroundings here.
Our residencies are divided into three categories — Clay, Artists & Makers, and Writers & Thinkers — simply to define studio access and residency costs, rather than the nature of your practice, we invite you to choose whichever category feels most appropriate.
For firsthand accounts of life at Casa Julfa, you can read testimonials from residents who've stayed with us over the past decade here.
Clay Residencies
Our approach to working with clay is rooted in traditional and ancestral practices, drawing on the region's rich history of pottery, medicinal clays and natural pigments, alongside founder Corinne's fifteen years of research into Indigenous clay practices.
Our studio is stocked with locally sourced earthenware clays, and residents can also explore our wild clays through an optional self-directed add-on.
For those seeking more guidance or a deeper exploration of wild clay and wood-firing, we recommend joining one of our dedicated workshops like Earth Magic or The Language of Fire.
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Your residency includes accommodation in one of our cinematic, private, self-catering apartments, alongside exclusive use of our ceramics studio. Meals are not included, but each apartment has its own kitchenette with all the essentials , and Montmorillon has plenty of local shops, markets and restaurants. The total fee is €1495.
Our studio stocks a selection of predominantly local earthenware clays, ranging from terracotta to the famous bright white clay of Limoges. Your residency includes 5 kg of clay, selected from a variety of whatever we have in stock at the time. Additional clay can be purchased at cost price; we don't mark up the price of our materials. Up to two firings are included in your residency, with additional firings available at an extra cost.
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Our studio stocks a selection of predominantly local earthenware clays, ranging from terracotta to the famous bright white clay of Limoges. Your residency includes 5 kg of clay, selected from a variety of whatever we have in stock at the time. Additional clay can be purchased at cost price; we don't mark up the price of our materials. Up to two firings are included in your residency, with additional firings available at an extra cost. We work exclusively with earthenware and fire at earthenware temperatures, up to a maximum of 1050°C.
We don't stock glazes, so residents wishing to use them should bring their own or arrange delivery in advance - we recommend the Botz Earthenware range that fires from 1020°C and 1060°C (Cone 06 to Cone 04) available to order directly to the Casa from Cigale et Formi.
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A self-directed introduction to our local wild clays, including approximately 10 kg of prepared clay, everything required to prepare up to an additional 10kg yourself from our foraged stock and a specially developed booklet and practical resources for independent experimentation. The cost is €150.
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Our ceramics studio is inspired by the small traditional potteries that once populated the region: humble but spacious, simple but inspiring Alongside our collection of traditional hand tools, moulds and materials gathered from local brocantes and our work with artisans in Mexico and Armenia, the studio has Shimpoo throwing wheels and a Rohde electric kiln.
The kiln accommodates work up to approximately 66 cm high and 55 cm wide.
Writers and Thinkers Residency
Our picturesque town has had a love affair with literature for nearly 800 years, with a long history of writing, publishing and printing books.
Casa Julfa itself has been described as the perfect place to write by many former residents, including Taymour Soomro, published by The New Yorker and Random House; poets Andriniki Mattis and Hasti and National Book Award finalist, writer and artist Maureen O'Shaughnessy.
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Your residency includes accommodation in one of our cinematic, private, self-catering apartments, alongside exclusive use of our writers' room. Meals are not included, but each apartment has its own kitchenette with all the essentials, and Montmorillon has plenty of local shops, markets and restaurants.
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A small but beautifully formed nook in the heart of the house, filled with natural light and a desk overlooking the village church and quiet street below. A perfect space for reading, writing or simply snoozing in the sun.
Please note that if you require access to a studio for making, you should book an Artists & Makers residency instead.
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We sometimes offer 1 week writers residencies, you will find any dates that are available on the booking drop down menus. The fee is €795.
Artists & Makers
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Your residency includes accommodation in one of our cinematic, private, self-catering apartments, alongside exclusive use of our writers' room. Meals are not included, but each apartment has its own kitchenette with all the essentials, and Montmorillon has plenty of local shops, markets and restaurants. The total fee is €1295.
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“I am just so grateful for the experience your residency provides. I felt a pull to work in a way that’s more in tune with the earth and its gifts for some time, but being with you, working with the natural pigments and clay you have collected was a really special experience that solidified what I hadn’t been able to articulate just yet.
I keep reflecting on the wood firing and your personal approach to ritual and ancestral ways and feeling deeply inspired by it. As you mentioned, timing is so important and I as feel myself transforming in this new season of life, it is extremely cathartic to have witnessed my pieces transform in the flames as well.
Your offering of home, guidance and space is so appreciated and I know that anyone who leaves Casa Julfa must be feeling the same way. I do hope our paths will cross again in the future. ¨
Andrea Koesters - Self- Directed Residency September 2023