Visual Arts

The Evens Foundation, since it seeks to promote dialogue and social emancipation, is particularly interested in the role that art can play in society. The Foundation's Prize for Visual Arts, awarded every two years, supports initiatives that link artistic work with political and social concerns, providing new perspectives on the relationship between art, engagement and reality.

In 2002, the Evens Foundation organized its first Prize for Visual Arts, won by the artist Sylvie Blocher with the collective Campement Urbain. The prize recognized their reflection on the significance and the possibilities of artistic interventions in the public space, particularly in the context of the new socio-political realities of urban living.

In 2004, the Foundation launched a contest for short film screenplays on the theme Encounter, aimed at young directors from Europe and the Middle East, so as to create spaces for dialogue between these two cultural territories. The prize, which was awarded to Nassim Amaouche, Ula Tabari and Timon Koulmasis, made possible the creation of three short films, which were critically acclaimed and won awards at international festivals.

In 2007, the Evens Foundation initiated Floating Territories, a project linking the contemporary art biennials of Istanbul, Athens and Venice. Artists, curators, writers and philosophers were invited to explore the responsibilities and limits of art in the context of a 'Europe in motion.'

In 2009, the Foundation awarded the Evens Prize for Visual Arts to the artist Agnieszka Podgórska for her work on the body as a 'first language' in our relationship with others, as a prerequisite for living together.

In parallel, the Foundation supported innovative artistic projects such as Musée Précaire Albinet by Thomas Hirschhorn, Wyspa Institute of Art in Gdansk, or Jan Fabre exhibition at the Louvre.