Guadeloupean artist Minia Biabiany has won the inaugural $100,000 grant from the Han Nefkens Foundation, in collaboration with several international partner museums, for a new moving image commission focused on the environmental crisis. Biabiany was selected from three finalists.
This first edition of the award, supported by the foundation along with the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City, and The Bass in Miami Beach, focused around the theme of ecology. It supports the creation of an artwork exploring humanity’s unsustainable relationship with Earth, to be later displayed across the participating institutions.
Biabiany, who has exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo and the 10th Berlin Biennale, plans to weave together art, ecology, and pedagogy within the context of her birthplace of Guadeloupe, using her project to highlight the political power of “poetic imagery.” The jury commended her for addressing contemporary urgencies through a practice that blends colonial histories, ecological crises, and cultural narratives.
“This grant allows me to deepen my exploration of how art can engage with ecology and pedagogy to provoke thought and inspire change. I am grateful for the jury’s trust and the opportunity to contribute to this critical dialogue,” Biabiany said.
