The Center for Art and the Political Imaginary (CAPIm) Summer School 2026 will take place in Marseille, France between 28 June – 6 July 2026.
CAPIm’s Summer School gathers artists, curators and artistic researchers to consider the relationship between art and the political imaginary through a thematic lens. This year, SHED’s publishing catalogue is the point of departure and engage with Ariella Aïsha Azoulay’s notion of potential history to think collectively about how unlearning imperialism might unfold within artistic research. The focus on Marseille is not incidental: as a port city shaped by migration, extraction, and empire, it occupies a pivotal place in the ongoing potential history of decoloniality.
The Summer School unfolds over nine days and will encompass participant presentations, collective food preparation, close reading sessions, intensive workshops with invited artists and theorists—including Ariella Aïsha Azoulay—and an evening programme open to the public in Marseille curated by Arthur Eskenazi. All events will take place on-site in manner responsive to local conditions and the possibility of intense summer heat.
The Summer School is open to artistic researchers from any discipline, students and doctoral candidates in the field of art or artistic research, artists, architects or cultural workers with a demonstrated investment in the political imaginary as an emancipatory practice.
During the Summer School participants are required to be present in Marseille for the entire period and attend an average of six hours a day of core programming. Participants are also asked to undertake preliminary reading in advance and required to attend an on-line introductory session on the context of Marseille and the logistical planning.
The programme is free and will be delivered in English. Travel to and from Marseille, accommodation in collective, rented apartments, mid-day meals, and workshop materials are covered by the Summer School.
