The European Cultural Centre Italy presents the new edition of the ECC Awards, recognising contemporary artistic practices that transform diversity into opportunities for dialogue and exchange within the framework of Personal Structures – Confluences, the biennial contemporary art exhibition on view in Venice until 22 November 2026 at Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Mora and the Marinaressa Gardens. Inspired by the theme of Confluences, this year’s selection brings together projects that explore different forms of collaboration, from artistic research and interdisciplinary practices to the dialogue between art, society and the environment.

The selected projects are evaluated by an international jury of experts from the fields of art, design, research and cultural strategy, including Nargess Banks, Jesús Alberto Flores, Rahul Gudipudi, Euijung McGillis and Anouska Phizacklea.

The Categories

The ECC Awards 2026 celebrate outstanding projects across five categories:

• Artistic Interpretation of the Theme: Confluences, recognising artistic practices exploring connections, exchange and shared perspectives;
• Cross-Disciplinary Project, highlighting projects that bring together art, science, design and technology;
• Research & Curatorial Project, celebrating practices based on research, archives and knowledge production;
• Emerging Practices, presenting new voices in contemporary art exploring identity, memory and transformation;
• Space & Context Project, focusing on site-specific interventions engaging with architecture, space and environment.

This year’s selected works represent 17 countries, including Japan, the United States, China, South Korea, France, Pakistan, Nepal, Bahrain, Israel, Canada and the United Kingdom. The international scope of the selection reflects the diverse artistic perspectives brought together within Personal Structures – Confluences and Venice’s role as a meeting point for contemporary artistic research.

Shortlisted Projects

Artistic Interpretation of the Theme: Confluences

B-OWND
Country: Japan
Title of the project: Relational Logic – Beyond Dualism, a World Reconnected

About the project: B-OWND is a Japanese curatorial platform exploring the relationship between art, craftsmanship, and contemporary technologies. The project investigates artistic practice as a network of connections between people, materials, and contexts, challenging traditional divisions between art and craft, function and contemplation.

Martha Russo
Country: USA
Title of the project: nomos (cube Venezia)

About the project: Through her ceramic installation nomos, Martha Russo explores the relationship between matter, perception, and the natural world. The work creates an immersive environment where organic forms and abstract structures invite viewers to experience space through a slower and more sensory approach.

Adrian Parr Zaretsky / Liu Shiming
Country: Australia / China
Title of the project: Intimate Unthinkables

About the project: Intimate Unthinkables connects different cultural perspectives on labour, care and vulnerability. Bringing together Liu Shiming’s sculpture and Adrian Parr Zaretsky’s contemporary practice, the project reflects on shared human experiences across time and geography.

G-sim Seyeon / BALC
Country: South Korea / Japan
Title of the project: a moment we shared

About the project: South Korean artist G-sim Seyeon, presented by BALC, explores the perception of time through painting and performative gestures. His works examine the “moment” as a space where past, present, and future overlap, translating movement, energy, and impermanence into dynamic visual compositions inspired by natural phenomena.

Cross-Disciplinary Project

Stephens Tapestry Studio / William Kentridge
Country: South Africa
Title of the project: Carte de France Divisée en 86 départements and Asie Mineure

About the project: Stephens Tapestry Studio presents two tapestries created in collaboration with William Kentridge. The works explore themes of migration, memory, and identity, transforming drawings and collage-based compositions into hand-woven textile narratives through traditional techniques developed between South Africa and Eswatini.

A+N Studio
Country: Netherlands
Title of the project: Breathing Light

About the project: A+N Studio develops objects and installations at the intersection of design, research, and wellbeing. Breathing Light transforms breathing patterns into an immersive light experience, combining physiological data and participatory design to explore the relationship between environment, perception, and mindfulness.

Geraldine Ondrizek & Shizuko Takahashi
Country: USA / Japan
Title of the project: Becoming You

About the project: Becoming You is an art-science project exploring human development from the cell to birth through painting and storytelling. Combining genetics, medicine, and visual language, the work translates biological processes into images inspired by Japanese scroll traditions.

ORLAN
Country: France
Title of the project: WE ARE INCONSOLABLE

About the project: ORLAN’s multidisciplinary practice investigates the relationship between the body, technology, and identity. In WE ARE INCONSOLABLE, the artist transforms pain and anger into a critical reflection on violence, power structures and resistance through AI-generated images and painterly interventions.

Research & Curatorial Project

Mahwish Chishty
Country: USA
Title of the project: Tanka Tales: Thread as Archive

About the project: Mahwish Chishty’s textile installation uses embroidery as a living archive of memory, women’s labour, and cultural heritage. Developed with Pakistani artisans, the project combines traditional craftsmanship and contemporary artistic research to create a dialogue between history and the present.

ADEMA University School
Country: Spain
Title of the project: Selected works from the Fine Arts Programme

About the project: ADEMA University School presents a selection of works by students from its Fine Arts programme, exploring social, political and environmental themes through different artistic languages. The projects reflect the role of education as a space for experimentation, research and critical thinking.

Princeton Research Film Studio / Erika A. Kiss
Country: USA
Title of the project: Atlantis

About the project: Directed by Erika A. Kiss, Princeton Research Film Studio explores cinema in the age of automation and artificial intelligence. Combining philosophy, science, and visual storytelling, Atlantis investigates new possibilities for moving images through immersive installations and experimental film practices.

Jennifer Garcia Peacock
Country: USA
Title of the project: Ester Hernández: An Ecological Memoir

About the project: This research project focuses on the work of artist Ester Hernández, creating an archive around her ecological and political practice. Through archival materials and interdisciplinary research, Jennifer Garcia Peacock explores the connections between art, environmental activism, and Chicanx cultural memory.

Emerging Practices

Desmond Beach
Country: USA
Title of the project: Quiet Between Us

About the project: Desmond Beach works across fibre, performance and installation, exploring memory, spirituality and the experiences of the African diaspora. Through ritual-based practices and material research, his work reflects on histories of resilience, connection and collective remembrance.

Amelia Galgon
Country: USA
Title of the project: Selected works

About the project: Amelia Galgon’s practice combines contemporary figuration and printmaking to explore the relationship between the queer body and domestic space. Transforming figures and intimate environments, her work examines how bodies shape and redefine the spaces they inhabit.

Oona Frost
Country: Netherlands
Title of the project: Dream Museum

About the project: Oona Frost explores the boundaries between body, technology, and consciousness through installations, inflatable sculptures and interactive media. Tardigrade reflects on human evolution, neuroplasticity and speculative futures, combining scientific research with imaginative and hybrid narratives.

Blurring the Lines / Jyoti Shrestha
Country: Nepal
Title of the project: Chhyake

About the project: Chhyake explores the body as an archive of memory, resilience, and identity. Through photography and text, Jyoti Shrestha reinterprets scars as symbols of personal and collective experience, transforming physical marks into expressions of resistance and self-determination.

Space & Context Project

Lynn Christine Kelly
Country: Canada
Title of the project: The Forest for the Trees

About the project: Lynn Christine Kelly creates immersive environments inspired by forest ecosystems through textiles, sculpture, light, and sound. The Forest for the Trees transforms the exhibition space into a sensory landscape reflecting on the relationship between humans, nature, and perception.

Studio Waldemeyer
Country: United Kingdom
Title of the project: Étoiles-en-Feu

About the project: Studio Waldemeyer presents a light installation that transforms architectural space through movement and perception. Composed of 111 elements, the work reinterprets the candle as a contemporary symbol of memory, atmosphere, and human connection.

Rashid Al Khalifa
Country: Bahrain
Title of the project: Inhabited Created

About the project: Rashid Al Khalifa creates spatial installations based on permeable structures that invite visitors to move through light, transparency, and changing perspectives. His work explores the relationship between architecture, perception and social experience.