Nursery residencies
This unique residency format — one of a kind in France — is the result of a partnership between the Pôle, the CAF des Ardennes, and several local nurseries. It offers artists the chance to explore creation and experimentation with very young children in a research-creation context.
The residencies in nurseries are open to professional puppetry artists working on projects intended for children aged 0 to 3 years. Puppetry may be explored in all its forms, including its intersections with other art disciplines.
The call for applications for the 2026/2027 residencies is closed.
Next in March 2027 for the 2027/2028 residencies.
2026/2027
Le bruit de l’herbe qui pousse company (France)
Indociles (provisional title)
Hosted by the Simone Veil, Charleville-Mézières
From 1 to 12 March 2027
A show suitable for children aged 12 months and over.
Physical theatre and abstract puppetry.
Visual and narrative abstraction lies at the heart of the project.
It places the viewer — whether child or adult — in an active position of observation and interpretation, echoing the state of constant development experienced by young children, who perceive the world before they can name it.
The work unfolds as a succession of short, self-contained episodes, yet linked together by a sensorial, bodily and perceptual logic. Each sequence functions as a problem-based situation, a playground or a space for experimentation, allowing the viewer to construct their own connections and hypotheses.
Creation in the first quarter of 2028.
2026/2027
Matiloun company (France)
Mini Matiloun
Hosted by Le Berceau d’Arthur, Charleville-Mézières
17 to 28 May 2027
A show for very young children (18 months – 3 years).
‘Art Brut’, percussive carnival-style experience.
Jean, the hero of our story, used to collect bits of string and all sorts of bits and bobs from the village rubbish tip. He would fill his overalls and his trusty old rubber wellies with his precious haul, which made him look rather funny with his big belly and the way he walked on tiptoes. He would then assemble these materials into rickety vehicles, which he would pull along behind him or hang from trees in the forest.
Mini Matiloun invites us to experience this. It’s a poetic way of awakening the innate creativity of the very young and reawakening the dormant creativity of the adult accompanying them.
Creation in autumn 2027.
2026/2027
Altocumulus company (France)
Demain j’ai volé
Hosted by Les Moussaillons, Sedan
15 to 25 June 2027
A show for very young children (aged 1 to 3)
Objects and shadows. Live music.
In ‘Demain j’ai volé’, Jeanne Marquis (a 2019 graduate of ESNAM) aims to encourage the public to discover and observe their surroundings with care: children will be able to lie down on a textured mat, become absorbed by the sensation of a draught coming from a corner of the space, and then come and gaze at the large cloud that is constantly changing shape.
Conceived as a journey into the land of clouds, we will work with common sensory stimuli (visual, auditory, tactile) and seek to invite the audience to contemplate their surroundings.
Creation in early 2028.