Valentin Noujaïm Wins Han Nefkens Foundation’s Mediterranean Video Art Grant
The Han Nefkens Foundation has introduced its inaugural Mediterranean Video Art Production Grant for 2026, which has been awarded to filmmaker Valentin Noujaïm. The French-Lebanese artist, born in 1991 and based in Paris and Athens, will receive €25,000 (approximately $28,500) for his upcoming project. Noujaïm, a La Fémis graduate, is known for his thought-provoking films that tackle themes of erasure and surveillance. His trilogy, La Défense, has gained recognition at major venues, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Over the next nine months, he will collaborate with the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens and Fotografiska Shanghai.
Key facts
- Han Nefkens Foundation awarded inaugural Mediterranean Video Art Production Grant 2026 to Valentin Noujaïm
- Grant provides EUR 25,000 (USD 28,500) for a new screen-based work
- Noujaïm is French Lebanese, born 1991, based between Paris and Athens
- He studied screenwriting at La Fémis in Paris, graduated 2020
- His La Défense trilogy includes Pacific Club (2023), To Exist Under Permanent Suspicion (2024), Demons to Diamonds (2025)
- Works shown at Museum of Modern Art New York and Institute of Contemporary Arts London
- Participated in Thessaloniki Biennale (2026) and Istanbul Biennale (2025)
- First institutional solo exhibition 'PANTHEON' at Kunsthalle Basel in 2025
- Selected from shortlist of nine artists
- Project to be presented at eight partner institutions and seven universities
Entities
Artists
- Valentin Noujaïm
Institutions
- Han Nefkens Foundation
- La Fémis
- Museum of Modern Art
- Institute of Contemporary Arts
- Kunsthalle Basel
- National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens
- Cukrarna Gallery
- Bonner Kunstverein
- Havremagasinet Länskonsthall
- Fotografiska Shanghai
- Salt
- Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome
Locations
- Barcelona
- Spain
- Paris
- France
- Athens
- Greece
- New York
- United States
- London
- United Kingdom
- Thessaloniki
- Istanbul
- Turkey
- Basel
- Switzerland
- Ljubljana
- Slovenia
- Bonn
- Germany
- Boden
- Sweden
- Shanghai
- China
- Rome
- Italy