Artful Crossroads: Venice’s New Awards Spotlight Memory and Tech

Venice, 2026 – The European Cultural Centre Italy has chosen the top projects for its ECC Awards, part of the Personal Structures – Confluences show that runs alongside the Venice Biennale. The exhibition travels through Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Mora and the Marinaressa Gardens from 9 May to 22 November. The awards honor work that digs into memory, identity and technology while engaging deeply with the city’s history. Winners will be announced at the closing night on 22 November.

Competition Structure

The competition features five buckets, each pushing artists to turn diversity into shared learning:

International Shortlist

Seventeen countries contribute to the shortlist: Japan, USA, Netherlands, China, South Korea, France, Pakistan, Nepal, Israel, Bahrain, Canada and the UK. An international panel of experts—Nargess Banks (UK), Jesús Alberto Flores (Mexico), Rahul Gudipudi (India), Euijung McGillis (Canada) and Anouska Phizacklea (Australia)—will decide the winners.

Finalist Highlights

• Relational Logic – Beyond Dualism (Japan’s B‑OWND)
  Art, craft and tech rethinking connections among people, materials and places.

• nomos (cube Venezia) by Martha Russo (USA)
  A giant porcelain installation turning space into a living ecosystem of light and texture.

• Intimate Unthinkables by Adrian Parr Zaretsky (Australia) & Liu Shiming (China)
  Joint installation linking everyday female experiences across cultures.

• Carte de France Divisée en 86 départements & Asie Mineure by Stephens Tapestry Studio (Johannesburg) with William Kentridge
  Tapestries exploring migration and memory.

• Breathing Light by A+N Studio (Netherlands)
  Interactive light field translating breathing patterns for stress relief.

• Becoming You by Geraldine Ondrizek (USA) & Shizuko Takahashi (Japan)
  Visualizing human development from cell to birth on a scroll.

• WE ARE INCONSOLABLE by ORLAN (France)
  AI‑generated images transforming pain into political resistance.

• Tanka Tales: Thread as Archive by Mahwish Chishty (Pakistani‑American)
  Embroidery stitches stories with artisans in Pakistan.

• Ester Hernández: An Ecological Memoir by Jennifer Garcia Peacock (USA)
  Visual archive of environmental activism.

• Quiet Between Us by Desmond Beach (New York)
  Fiber and performance exploring racial memory.

• Dream Museum by Oona Frost (Netherlands)
  Speculative futures with inflatable sculptures and interactive media.

• The Forest for the Trees by Lynn Christine Kelly (Canada)
  Sensory forest with light and sound within exhibition space.

• Étoiles-en-Feu by Studio Waldemeyer (London)
  Corridor lit with 111 candles to explore memory.

• Inhabited by Rashid Al Khalifa (Bahrain)
  Navigable grids allowing visitors to move through light and space.

• Holding the Fragments by Pnina Afik (Israel)
  Industrial materials piecing together traumatic memory.

These projects illustrate how art can serve as a living conversation between past, present and future—set against the backdrop of Venice’s historic streets.