The Chanel Culture Fund disclosed the ten recipients of its biennial Next Prize for 2026 on January 19, according to a report in The Art Newspaper. Now in its third edition since launching in 2021, the award recognises contemporary artists who are redefining their disciplines across visual art, music, film, dance and design. Each of the winners will receive €100,000 with no strings attached to support ambitious new projects, a Chanel statement said. The prize also includes a two-year mentorship and networking programme run with cultural partners including the Royal College of Art in London.
This year’s cohort includes jazz trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire from the United States, Portuguese dancer and choreographer Marco da Silva Ferreira, and Chinese artist and composer Pan Daijing, The Art Newspaper reported. Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, South Korean visual artist Ayoung Kim and Nigerian-born visual artist Emeka Ogboh round out a group that also features Colombian-Canadian choreographer Andrea Peña, Mexican artist and designer Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, French painter Pol Taburet and Spanish visual artist Álvaro Urbano. The artists represent a broad geographical spread, with the Chanel Culture Fund noting their work collectively pushes boundaries in their respective fields.
A Chanel statement described the prize as a catalyst for innovation that provides recipients with the resources, time and space to extend their practice. Yana Peel, president of arts, culture and heritage at Chanel, said in remarks carried by ArtReview that following the winners’ journeys would be thrilling. The selection panel comprised Peel along with Tate Modern curator Alvin Li, British Film Institute chief executive Ben Roberts, curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, artist Cao Fei and actor Tilda Swinton, ArtReview reported.
Several winners have already gained significant recognition in the art world. Ayoung Kim received the $100,000 LG Guggenheim Award in 2025 while Pol Taburet was awarded the Reiffers Art Initiatives Prize in 2022 and holds work in the Pinault Collection, according to The Art Newspaper. The prize is not targeted solely at emerging talent but at artists poised to make further impact, a Chanel spokesperson indicated in supporting material. Previous editions honoured figures including Dalton Paula, Tolia Astakhishvili and Precious Okoyomon, Artsy noted in its coverage of the 2026 cohort.
The winners are scheduled to first convene as a group during a visit timed to the opening week of the 2026 Venice Biennale in May, The Art Newspaper stated. Their practices range from Kim’s use of 3D game engines to critique algorithms and the gig economy to Ogboh’s sound installations exploring place, memory and social experience. Urbano creates immersive environments blending fiction and reality often through plant replicas, while Sánchez-Kane merges art and fashion in works addressing identity and gender.
Pan Daijing combines experimental music, contemporary art and cinema in large-scale installations, and Akinmusire is regarded as one of his generation’s leading jazz trumpeters with performances at venues including Carnegie Hall and the Berlin Philharmonie, according to Vogue Taiwan’s profile drawn from Chanel materials. Kapadia’s films and Peña’s choreography further diversify the group, which Chanel said exemplifies radically different ways of seeing the world. The €100,000 awards total €1 million in direct support for this edition alone.
