Questions of memory, migration, ecology and identity shape the 2026 edition of Étant donnés, presented by Villa Albertine, where women artists, curators and researchers lead many of the programme’s most compelling projects.
‘La defense’, Valentin Noujaïm
Memory travels across borders in the 2026 edition of Étant donnés, Villa Albertine’s flagship grant programme supporting contemporary art projects between France and the United States. Many of this year’s selected artists explore movement through migration, diaspora, colonial histories and changing landscapes. Their work moves between Morocco, Haiti, Ukraine, Guadeloupe, the Caribbean and France, tracing connections between personal experience and collective memory.
Among them is Bouchra Khalili, the Casablanca-born artist whose films and installations examine migration, citizenship and political agency. Her project, ‘The Speeches Series’, will be presented at the Des Moines Art Center under the curatorship of Ashton Cooper. Caribbean artist Kelly Sinnapah Mary, whose practice draws on folklore, mythology and postcolonial histories, will receive a solo exhibition at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, curated by Amy Smith-Stewart and Aimé Iglesias Lukin.
Nydia Blas, Étant donnés 2025. Marseille.
Haitian-born Valérie John will present ‘Et si la mer n’était pas bleue / and if the sea was not blue’ at The Center for Art, Research and Alliances, curated by Amandine Nana, while Ukrainian artist Polina Moroz will create a new commission for The Ukrainian Museum with curator Monika Fabijanska.
French artist Noémie Goudal, known for photographic and film installations exploring landscape, geology and time, will present ‘Sacro Bosco’ at the Norton Museum of Art, curated by Lauren Richman. Designer Inga Sempé, recognised for her refined approach to industrial design and everyday objects, will also receive a major exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Kelly Sinnapah Mary
Curators occupy a central place in this year’s edition. Guadeloupean curator and writer Claire Tancons, internationally recognised for her work on carnival cultures, performance and decolonial histories, will organise ‘Van Lévé: Sovereign Visions of the Creole and Maroon Caribbean and Amazonias’ at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center. The programme also includes projects shaped by Robyn Farrell, Victoria Aresheva, Anastasia Krizanovska, Lena Sorokina and Stéphanie Airaud.
Beyond exhibitions, Étant donnés supports curatorial research through grants awarded to Perwana Nazif, Ariana Faye Allensworth and Mélanie Kress, with projects focused on healthcare infrastructures, ecology, collective systems and public art commissions.
Jenny Polak
Founded in 1994, the programme is led by Villa Albertine and the Albertine Foundation to support exhibitions, commissions and curatorial research between France and the United States. Its 2026 edition reveals a contemporary art landscape shaped by belonging, environment, memory and collective futures.
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