The COAL Prize 2026 is dedicated to the theme of night. The COAL Prize invites artists to defend the night as a common good, a major ecological issue for the regeneration of life, a refuge, a diversity of languages to be celebrated, a right to rest and to darkness. Inventing stories to relearn how to inhabit the shadows, creating art with the night, is to contribute to an ecology of rhythms. Restoring the fear of the night is a perfect antidote to anthropocentrism, because it forces us to be humble, confronting us with the depths of the sky, the intimacy of the vast, the immensity of the cosmos.
Ten artists are nominated. The Prix COAL and its special mentions are awarded from among these ten projects by a jury made up of representatives of the partner organisations and personalities from the fields of art and ecology. In addition, all the entries considered by COAL and the selection committee help to make known artists and projects that may be solicited or promoted according to other opportunities and actions carried out by the association and its partners.
The artist awarded the COAL Prize receives a grant of 12,000 EUR and a creative residency at the heart of the Domaine de Belval, property of the François Sommer Foundation, supported by the scientific and educational teams of the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature and those of the Domaine de Belval.
The artist awarded the Special Jury Prize receives a grant of 3,000 EUR. The artist awarded the Ateliers Médicis mention benefits from a residency in Clichy-sous-Bois/Montfermeil, in connection with the regional forest of Bondy. The artist awarded the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles/Paris mention, also known as Le Vaisseau, receives a grant of 2,000 EUR and will be invited to exhibit at the Parisian institution.
