The Igor Zabel Award for Culture and Theory honours outstanding achievements in the field of visual arts that demonstrate visionary thinking and lasting cultural impact. The award recognises the exceptional contributions of curators, art historians, theorists, and art writers whose work supports, advances, or critically examines visual arts in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Rooted in this region, the award seeks to strengthen its global visibility, foster transregional dialogue, and encourage broader cultural engagement.

Named in honour of the distinguished Slovenian curator and art historian Igor Zabel (1958–2005), the award has been presented biennially since 2008 by ERSTE Foundation in partnership with the Igor Zabel Association.

This year’s award ceremony will take place at the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana on 27 November. A public programme accompanying the ceremony will be held on 26 and 27 November.

Igor Zabel Award 2026: Laureate and Grant Recipients

2026 Laureate

The jury has awarded Nataliia Ivanova the 2026 Igor Zabel Award for Culture and Theory in recognition of her achievements as a curator, educator, and founding director of the Yermilov Centre in Kharkiv, Ukraine (since 2012). Ivanova’s work strengthens visual art and culture across Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe by connecting the region’s avant-garde heritage with contemporary artistic practices and fostering international dialogue. Her work demonstrates the vital role of cultural practice in times of profound uncertainty and crisis.

Leading an institution in close proximity to a frontline zone requires sustaining creative production under extraordinary circumstances. Under her leadership, the Yermilov Centre has strengthened its position as a leading cultural institution while also becoming a space of care and solidarity. It stands as a remarkable example of how art institutions can fulfil their social mission in times of conflict. Functioning both as a bomb shelter and an active gallery, the centre provides physical protection alongside intellectual, emotional, and community support. Ivanova’s work reflects an unwavering commitment to critical cultural discourse, artistic production, and international solidarity in the face of ongoing war.

2026 Grant recipients

Tania Arcimovich, a researcher and art writer from Minsk, in recognition of her research and contributions to contemporary art, performance, and historical avant-garde studies in Belarus and among the Belarusian diaspora. The jury values her research on independent Belarusian art during political transitions and displacement, with a focus on institutional structures, gender, and memory.

 

Octavian Esanu, based in Beirut and Tokyo, in recognition of his art historical, curatorial, and pedagogical work connecting the artistic infrastructures and legacies of post-socialist Eastern Europe and the postcolonial Middle East. The jury values his analysis of modern and contemporary art within transregional and materialist frameworks, and his explorations of the institutionalisation of artistic practice during political and economic transitions in these regions.

 

Alona Karavai, cultural worker and curator from Ukraine, for her cultural work that engages with the long-term societal fracturing caused by ongoing warfare. She has created support structures for contemporary art outside metropolitan centres that transform temporary wartime crisis interventions into sustainable, long-term regional institutional strategies.

Jury and Nominators 2026

2026 jury
Vasif Kortun – curator, Ayvalık
Kasia Redzisz – curator and artistic director of Kanal – Centre Pompidou, Brussels
Sophie Thun – artist and professor at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna

2026 nominators
Aleksei Borisionok, Jakub Gawkowski, Flaka Haliti, Angela Harutyunyan, Elena Narbutaitė, Lívia Nolasco Rózsás, Michal Novotný, Boyan Manchev, Hana Ostan-Ožbolt-Haas and Magda Radu  

Igor Zabel Award 2026 ceremony and its accompanying programme

Thursday, 26.11.

15:00 – 16:30 Working Across Uncertain Grounds • Conversation

A conversation with Igor Zabel Award Grant recipients Tania Arcimovich, Octavian Esanu, and Alona Karavai, moderated by Vasif Kortun and Jakub Gawkowski. The discussion explores displacement, exile, and both forced and professional mobility, as well as the challenges of working within and beyond institutional frameworks in times of political and economic instability and war.

Venue: Lili Novy hall, Cankarjev dom

18:00 – 19:30 Grounded Sun / Relations • Screening

A screening programme presenting key works of avant-garde and experimental film selected from three collections: the Kontakt Collection, the Slovenian Cinematheque Film Collection, and DIVA Station – Digital Video Archive. Curated by Aleksei Borisionok and Peter Cerovšek.

Venue: Slovenian Cinematheque

Friday, 27.11.

10:00 – 12:30 Exhibiting Visual Art in Slovenia • Seminar

This seminar explores the historical development of Slovenia’s visual arts infrastructure, its sociopolitical context, and its defining characteristics. Through the examples of the Museum of Modern Art and the MGLC International Centre of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana, it examines the legacy of Socialist Yugoslavia and its influence on contemporary institutional practice. The programme includes lectures by Beti Žerovc and Zdenka Badovinac, followed by a guided tour of MGLC / Švicarija led by Božidar Zrinski and Dušan Dovč.

Venue: MGLC Švicarija

10:00 – 12:30 Presentation of the Cukrarna Gallery & Guided Tour

The exhibition »untranquil now«, curated by Corinne Diserens, brings together works from the Hamburger Kunsthalle collection that explore the body and perception as sites of contradiction and carriers of complex histories. In »Eating Back«, Špela Petrič draws on her interventions in industrial greenhouses to investigate the material, ideological, and social conditions of technologically optimised environments and the systems of food production they sustain.

Venue: Cukrarna Gallery

15:00 – 17:00 »The End« • Guided Tour

Curator Vladimir Vidmar leads a tour of »The End«, an exhibition that reflects on how we navigate endings that have already begun to unfold. Rather than resorting to utopian hopes or dystopian visions, the exhibition considers what forms of thought and action remain possible in the present.

Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (+MSUM)

19:00 – 21:00 Award Ceremony

The 2026 Igor Zabel Award ceremony will honour this year’s laureate, Nataliia Ivanova, alongside the recipients of the 2026 Igor Zabel Award Grants. Following the ceremony, the laureate will speak about her work and curatorial practice.

The jury honours Ivanova for her work as curator, educator, and founding director of the Yermilov Centre in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Through her practice, she has strengthened visual art and culture in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe by connecting regional avant-garde legacies with contemporary artistic production, fostering international dialogue, and developing cultural infrastructure as a form of care.

Tania Arcimovich, Octavian Esanu, and Alona Karavai are the recipients of the 2026 Igor Zabel Award Grants.

Venue: Museum of Modern Art (MG+)

For more information about the Igor Zabel Award for Culture and Theory, please visit: https://igorzabel.org/en/award