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Photo © Olivier Pascaud
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF - Susie Hollands
Scottish expatriate Susie Hollands landed in Paris in 2003 and founded Bonapart Consulting a full-service real estate consultancy that helps international clients find homes in Paris for ownership, investment or rental. Alongside this activity, her own artistic activity and interests (installation, video, photography and cinema) led her to form I V Y paris which became a hub for international artists basing themselves in the City of Light. She writes on contemporary art and encounters with emerging artists on the Paris scene, entertainment and nightlife for The Guardian and Eurostar.
CATEGORY EDITORS
EDITOR: GASTRONOMY - Omid Tavallai
Omid Tavallai is a vociferously proud San Franciscan, yet he rejects the term "expat" and prefers to be considered an immigrant to France. Hawking software in the tech industry by day, he's a luddite by night, preferring manual lenses and good old-fashioned hand tools when he moonlights as a roving gastronome. A fierce champion of the buy-local-and-independent credo, he's also an expert on uncovering obscure ethnic imports from across the world in the name of authenticity. The facial hair he sports is not to be fashionable, he says, but to infiltrate what his wife has called the "Mustache Mafia," a cadre of old-school butchers, restaurateurs and purveyors in central Paris, whom he believes are colluding as the last line of defense for excellent food accessible to all, against the encroachment of chains and trends that have come to dominate the Parisian food landscape.
EDITOR: FILM - Susie Kahlich
Susie Kahlich is an American screenwriter who sometimes dabbles in short stories, poetry and experimental works for visual artists. She has lived and worked in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles before relocating to France. She moved to Paris in 2010 for the sole reason that she loves cities, and Paris is among the very best. She works primarily with French and UK film productions, and when she is not writing or watching or discussing films, she can usually be found wandering aimlessly around town pondering a plot point. She has a lifelong fear of vampires but is perhaps overly fond of zombies and ninjas, both of which are so disappointingly rare in Paris she decided to become one (but which one???).
EDITOR: UNSPOKEN RULES - Guillermo Martinez de Velasco
When confronted with any of life's conundrums, Guillermo Martínez de Velasco calls on the Narwhal, his spirit animal, to give him sufficient literary prowess so that he may dissect, examine, and attempt to understand humans. Unfortunately, the powers bestowed upon him by the majestic unicorn of the North Sea, only render him all the more confused. Guillermo is doomed to repeat this cycle of writing and confusion until, in a moment that will only be remembered as 'that one day', Guillermo will finally be able to explain it all with the same ten word combination. Of Franco-Mexican origin, Guillermo grew up in the United States and Canada only to discover Paris in his early twenties (which some say are the new early teens). His favourite all encompassing adjective is 'post-ironic'; he is a defender of the socks-over-the -trouser-leg cause, and hopes that one day the Town Musicians of Bremen will pay him a visit. All Guillermo really wants in life is to know more than he already does. Actually, before that happens, he'd quite for people to understand him when he says: "I mean, I'd just like to write the next great English novel of our era, you know?". Although passionate about music, Guillermo would very much like to know what is about it that makes him and all others like certain sound waves hitting their eardrums over others. You will never see him wear white socks.
EDITOR: DESIGN - Anne Ditmeyer
Anne Ditmeyer [http://www.anneditmeyer.com] is an American in Paris who has had an on-again-off-again love affair with the city. After returning in 2009 to pursue a Masters at the American University of Paris, she now works as a full-time freelance graphic designernd communications consultant. In addition to running her own travel meets design blog, Prêt à Voyager [http://www.pret-a-voyager.com] (translation: ready to travel), she has worked as a contributing editor for the internationally recognized design blog, Design*Sponge since 2008, as well juggling numerous other projects and clients. Like Amelie, she also has a thing for garden gnomes.
Photo by Felicia Shelton. [http://www.felicia-shelton.com/website/]
VINGT Paris Presents
CURATOR - Philip Tonda
Philip Tonda graduated from the Rietveld Art Academy in 2007. He also did a study exchange (Visual Culture Studies) at UDK in Berlin, and followed a postgraduate course at Dutch Art Institute with a focus on art in socio political contexts.
Since then he has showed his art work in a number of international group exhibitions, had 3 solo exhibitions, and has been the curator of a number of group exhibitions, solo exhibitions, artists talks and events. He’s been writing freelance for art magazines, programmed debates with artists and politicians for seminars, and been involved in various collaborative projects.
Find more at: Philip Tonda
Philip Tonda was invited by Susie Hollands to develop the concept of the artist-in-residence program, and he will be functioning as the residency curator in close collaboration with the selected artist.
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
WRITER - Aidan MacGuill
Aidan is from Dublin, Ireland. He is occasionally paid for writing things, and has a website (www.aidanmacguill.tumblr.com). He likes the cinema, old bars and trees, and as such he quite likes Paris. This was honestly the best picture he could find of himself.
WRITER - Aran Cravey
Since moving from NYC at the end of 2009, Aran has been residing in Paris on what is to be her eventual return to Los Angeles (departure date, yet to be determined…) Suffering from an acute case of gross-diplomafication, a condition causing one to amass numerous graduate degrees without procuring a steady income, Aran dreams of one day having a dog and a job (in that order). When not contemplating employment, she can be found searching Paris’ contemporary art scene for her next VINGT Paris article, attempting to finally master the French language, or ogling the massive yogurt selection in the dairy aisle of the Monoprix. She enjoys all things art related, her native state of Georgia, and the color blue.
WRITER - Boris Petrovic
Boris is from Belgrade, Serbia. He is finishing his thesis in comparative literature (American and ex-Yugoslavian cinema and theatre), just ran a marathon in September and will do several more later for sure. He has been into fine chocolates for more than five years already, and has been in Paris for the last 4.
WRITER - Elliot Elam
WRITER - Emily Sands-Bonin
After completing a Masters at the Bard Graduate Center for Decorative Arts, Design and Culture in New York City and working at Flash Art International magazine, Emily recently moved to Paris with her husband. After a nine year separation from Paris, during which she lived in Prague, Toulouse and Brooklyn, Emily is happy to be back. She enjoys revisiting her old haunts, eating sandwiches and observing how little the city has changed since she was a lonely, twenty year old Vassar student speaking pigeon French. She marvels that the same guy still works at the thrift store that she used to frequent, and she wonders if he recognizes her.
WRITER - Kay Roberts
Kay Roberts is an English writer who has during her career worked mostly in London, but also in Italy, France and Germany, as an artist, gallerist, critic and curator; always within the contemporary visual arts scene. After initially studying textiles she received a masters degree from the Royal College of Art in Interactive Multimedia which led to a time in the USA as a Churchill Fellow researching how new technology would effect art archives.
WRITER - Natalie Turturro
Natalie spent the early part of her childhood going to arts & crafts sessions hosted by the seafaring people of the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan. Since then, she's lived in a small town in Florida, as well as the cosmopolitan meccas of New York, Boston, Shanghai, London, and presently- Paris. In 2010, Natalie received her Bachelor's of Fine Arts from Boston University. She was selected to participate in internships at The Costume Institute in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York); The Textiles and Fashion Arts Department in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston; with new media arts group Furtherfield (London); and Coney, an agency of adventure and play (also in London). Moreover, Natalie's held various roles in several theaters both on and offstage. She loves to paint miniature works on paper, visit trim & button shops to add her own personal touches to her clothes, and finds navigating the Vélib munching on pain au lait with music in one ear quite thrilling. Writing for VINGT Paris allows Natalie to combine her creative interests and helps her to transform abstract thoughts into something tangible. Find out more: http://natalieturturro.com
WRITER - Rooksana Hossenally
Born in London, Rooksana has been living and working in Paris for the last two years after having tried out exotic Mauritius, complex India, the party life of Barcelona and the calmer cliffs of the Isle of Wight. Travelling is her drive in life; but she dreams of completing a novel whilst sitting on the porch of her imaginary white-washed wooden house along a golden sandy beach. Rooksana is one of the founding members of the Parisian cultural association, Le Suspendu, and also works on the editorial team for a UK travel website. The motto she tries to abide by in life is: “The mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work unless it’s open.”
WRITER - Tristan Stansbury Worthington
Born in London to Anglo-Icelandic parents, Tristan has always wondered whether he wasn't the victim of an international baby swap, delighting as he does in all things continental. Between a 9-5 and the odd article, he occasionally finds time to pursue his literary aspirations and work on short film projects. Addicted to pain au chocolat aux amandes and Chinese food. Prone to wandering the streets in search of his long lost Parisian parents.
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