Project Description

 

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Eco-design Art Prize

(Prix Art Éco-Conception)

Supporting contemporary artists in reducing their environmental impact

The Eco-Design Art Prize was born from the vision of the Art of Change 21 association to raise awareness within the French art scene of environmental and climate issues. It seeks to guide artists through their ecological transition, empowering them to anticipate and shape the major changes required to adapt to climate change.

Each year, the Eco-Design Art Prize rewards and supports 12 contemporary artists in their journey toward reducing their environmental impact. Over three days at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, they receive tailored guidance from experts in environmental sustainability, carbon accounting and eco-design, alongside mentorship from artists already committed to an environmental approach. Each laureate is awarded a €1,000 grant.

Organised in partnership with the Palais de Tokyo and supported by the French Ministry of Culture and ADEME, the Prize has already supported 24 winning artists in 2023 and 2024. In 2024, every winner expressed full satisfaction with the support received, affirming that it would positively shape the evolution of their artistic practice.

The rising number of applications – 278 in 2023 and 356 in 2024 – reflects both the growing importance of this initiative and the increasing commitment of artists to environmental responsibility. For its third edition, the Prize has reached a record number of applications with 534 submissions, representing a 48% increase compared to 2024.

The Eco-Design Art Prize is part of Art of Change 21’s broader, long-term mission to drive ecological transition within the cultural sector. This includes the creation of an open-access online resource center, regional support initiatives, the publication of a guide in partnership with ADEME and the development of eco-designed artistic programming.

In partnership with the Palais de Tokyo, with the support of the French Ministry of Culture and ADEME and the patronage of Maison Ruinart and Foundation LAccolade.

The Art of Change 21 association, in partnership with the Palais de Tokyo, has designed and organised the newest edition of the unique Eco-Design Art Prize.

The prize consists of 3 days of personalised support from environmental, carbon and eco-design experts specialised in art, as well as mentorship from artists committed to an environmental approach and a €1,000 grant. 

Key dates: 

• Call for entries: February 15 to April 6, 2025
• Award ceremony: April 28, 2025 (by invitation)
• Support sessions for prize winners: April 29, May 26 and 27, 2025

The Jury: 

The jury for the 2025 edition is made up of 12 personages from the worlds of art and the environment.

• Clément Delépine, Director of Art Basel Paris
• Guillaume Désanges, President of the Palais de Tokyo
• Catherine Dobler, Founder and Director of the Fondation LAccolade
• Karine Duquesnoy, Senior Civil Servant for Ecological Transition and Sustainable Development at the French Ministry of Culture
• Louise Hayward, Director of the Lisson Gallery, London
• Anna Labouze and Keimis Henni, Directors and founders of Artagon, Directors of Les Magasins Généraux
• Valérie Martin, Head of Mobilisation Citoyenne et Médias at ADEME 
• Arnaud Morand, Curator and Art Director of Afalula
• Otobong Nkanga, Artist 
• Emmanuel Tibloux, Director of the École des Arts Décoratifs
• Fabien Vallérian, Director of Art and Culture at Maison Ruinart
  

It is chaired by Alice Audouin, Founding President of Art of Change 21.

The jury selects the 12 winners from 36 finalists chosen by a selection committee composed of members of the Art of Change 21 team and outside experts (such as carbon expert Emmanuelle Paillat). 

The patron of the 2025 edition: Otobong Nkanga 

The patron of this year’s Eco-Design Art Prize is artist Otobong Nkanga. An internationally renowned artist, Otobong Nkanga uses tapestry, drawing, installation, photography, performance and sculpture to question the major ecological and social issues linked to the exploitation of resources, and to heal an unequal and dilapidated world. Currently exhibiting at MoMA in New York, Otobong Nkanga will have two major solo shows in 2025 – in Dallas as the winner of the Nasher Prize 2025 and in Paris at the Musée d’Art Moderne this autumn. As a jury member and speaker for this edition, Otobong Nkanga will share her insights, convictions and the impactful work of her foundation in Nigeria – an essential element of her commitment to environmental and social issues.

Selection criteria:

Artists are selected on the basis of three criteria: artistic quality, environmental awareness and the desire to develop their practice to reduce its environmental impact. 

The Prize is supported by the French Ministry of Culture and ADEME, and sponsored by Maison Ruinart and Fondation LAccolade.

The Eco-Design Art Prize would like to thank its partners for distributing the call for entries: Artagon, Artistik rezo, the Comité Professionnel des Galeries d’Art, Révélations Emerige, Fisheye magazinz, the École des Arts Décoratifs, the Emerige Endowment Fund, Poush, and its partners the Palais de Tokyo and the Fondation LAccolade.

Thanks to the artist Otobong Nkanga for her visual In partitions, Scaffolding Series, 2018, Courtesy of the artist

Information and contact: 

Sana Tekaïa, chief project Eco Design Art Prize
sana@artofchange21.com

ECO-DESIGN ART PRIZE, SECOND EDITION, 2024

In 2024, the Eco-Design Art Prize honored 12 laureates, chosen from among 356 candidates. The laureates, selected by a prestigious jury, were announced on April 2, 2024, at the Palais de Tokyo. This new edition is enriched by new experts, strengthened carbon footprint management, and the involvement of artists committed to an environmental initiative.

For the second year running, the Eco-Design Art Prize supports artists in reducing their environmental impact. The prize rewards 12 laureates with three days of tailor-made support at the Palais de Tokyo, with environmental, carbon and eco-design experts, as well as artists already well-advanced in the environmentally-consciousness of their practice. Each laureate also receives a 1,000 euro grant upon completion.

The prize is open to all visual artists living in France. 

The coaches, whose number and scope of expertise have increased for this second edition, include specialists in art & environment, carbon analysis, eco-design, sustainable textile design, low tech, solar energy, Green IT, and much more. In addition, artists from the previous edition will share their own experiences and progress. Finally, Art of Change 21 and the Palais de Tokyo will also be sharing their expertise, including a behind-the-scenes of the museum’s sustainability practices.

Representing a real testing ground for the environmental transition of artistic practices, the prizewinners will be coached through all the various stages of their practice (choice of techniques and materials, production issues, exhibition process, modes of transport, etc.)

The laureates of the 2024 edition:

> See the Eco-Design Art Prize presentation

The Jury
For the second edition of the Eco-design Art Prize the jury included Julie Crenn (independent curator), Guillaume Désanges (President of the Palais de Tokyo), Yvannoé Kruger (curator, Director of Poush), Valérie Martin (Head of the Citizen Mobilisation and Media Department, ADEME), Arnaud Morand (independent curator, Head of Arts Afalula), Emmanuel Tibloux (Director of the National School of Decorative Arts), Lucia Pietroiusti (Director of Ecologies, Serpentine Galleries), Fabien Vallérian (Director of Art and Culture, Maison Ruinart), Marion Waller (Director of the Pavillon de l’Arsenal) and Alice Audouin (President of Art of Change 21).

 

 

 

Thank you to Julian Charrière for his involvement in this Prize and for providing the visual (Julian Charrière, Towards No Earthly Pole, 2018. Courtesy of the artist).

Our distribution partners are helping to spread the call for applications.

 

 

SEE THE PRIZE REGULATION

 

 

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ECO-DESIGN ART PRIZE, FIRST EDITION, 2023

 

The creation of an eco-design methodology for artists was entrusted to Karbone Prod (Fanny Legros) in collaboration with Solinnen, an expert in eco-design.

100% of the winners of the first edition of the prize said they were satisfied with the support they received, and over 90% stated that the coaching they received would help them evolve their practices.

The contributors
Art of Change 21
Alice Audouin, founding president, expert in sustainable development since 2001 and independent curator
Stefano Vendramin, program director and independent curator

Palais de Tokyo
Mathieu Boncour – CSR and Communications Director
Lisa Séantier – Exhibition Production Director
Benjamin Mathia – Stage Manager
The Palais de Tokyo’s support was accompanied by visits to current exhibitions from the perspective of eco-design and the Palais’s stage management. 

Experts
Fanny Legros – founding director of Karbone Prod
Fabien Léaustic – guest artist, artist-engineer-researcher committed to eco-design for 10 years.
Cédric Carles – artist, designer and entrepreneur, co-founder of Paléo-Energétique, the Solar Sound System, Atelier 21 and RegenBox.
Aléxia Venot – designer, artist and biomaterials researcher.
Mathieu Delemme – expert in digital eco-design and Green IT.
Martin Lambert – head of the Art & Technology laboratory at Stéréolux.

Partners and sponsors
The first edition of the Eco-design Art Prize was organised in partnership with the Palais de Tokyo.
It was also supported by the French Ministry of Culture and the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME).                            

Its main partner was Ruinart, and its patron was Guerlain.

 

 

 

The Eco-design Art Prize also won the Norsys Foundation Trophy in 2023.

Distribution partners
The distribution partners were involved in distributing the call for applications.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credit: Say Who – Valentin Lecron