Announcing the Igor Zabel Award for Culture and Theory 2026

The Igor Zabel Award honors outstanding achievements in the field of visual arts that demonstrate visionary thinking and lasting cultural impact. The award recognizes the exceptional accomplishments of curators, art historians, theorists, and art writers whose work supports, develops, or researches visual arts in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Rooted in this region, the award aims to foster its global relevance, encourage transregional dialogue, and inspire broader cultural engagement.

Named in honour of the distinguished Slovenian curator and art historian Igor Zabel (1958–2005), the award has been conferred biennially since 2008 in cooperation with the initiator of the award, ERSTE Foundation (Vienna), and the Igor Zabel Association (Ljubljana).

A three-member international jury selects the laureate and the recipients of three grants based on proposals given by ten nominators. The laureate receives EUR 40,000, while three working grants are endowed with EUR 15,000 each. With a total prize fund of EUR 85,000, it is the most substantial and prestigious prize for cultural activities related to Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.

Previous award recipients:

• 2024, Edit András, art historian, art writer, and curator, Budapest
• 2022, Bojana Pejić, art historian, art writer, and curator, Berlin
• 2020, Zdenka Badovinac, curator and former director of Ljubljana's Moderna galerija
• 2018, Joanna Mytkowska, curator and director of MoMA, Warsaw
• 2016, Viktor Misiano, curator, art writer, and editor, Moscow/Cisternino
• 2014, Ekaterina Degot, curator and art writer, currently artistic director of the steirischer herbst festival, Graz
• 2012, Suzana Milevska, curator and art writer, Skopje
• 2010, Piotr Piotrowski (1952–2015), art historian and art writer, Poznań
• 2008, What, How & for Whom (WHW), Croatian curatorial collective; currently members of WHW serve as artistic directors of Skulptur Projekte Münster 2027

Find out more about the Igor Zabel Award and its previous awardees here: https://igorzabel.org/en/award