The Max Mara Art Prize for Women is entering a bold new chapter. For its tenth edition, the influential prize will become nomadic, expanding beyond the UK to operate internationally, with each future edition hosted in a different country.
Max Mara and Collezione Maramotti have announced that curator Cecilia Alemani, Director and Chief Curator of High Line Art in New York, will shape this new phase. Alemani will identify the geographic focus and institutional partner for each edition, working alongside Max Mara and Collezione Maramotti to support emerging and mid-career women artists worldwide.
“It’s a great honor to curate this inspiring new phase of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, an initiative I have always seen as an outstanding model of support for female artists. With its newly global, travelling format, the award is evolving into a full-fledged tool of cultural diplomacy and international dialogue. The choice to take this tenth edition out into the world ? specifically, to Indonesia and MACAN ? is not only a geographic expansion, but a clear statement: in our era, the West holds no monopoly on artistic innovation. I’m convinced that the unique nature of this prize, which culminates in a six-month Italian residency, will give winning artists a true testing lab in which to experiment, infusing their practice with a thousand-year-old tradition to produce a bold new creative alloy. At a time of fragmentation, the Max Mara Art Prize for Women is committed to building the kind of solid, lasting ties that are essential not only for the blossoming of individual careers, but for the growth and reinvention of the entire ecosystem of contemporary art.”
Cecilia Alemani, curator of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women and chair of the jury:
The first partner institution for this expanded format will be Museum MACAN – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara, Jakarta. Founded in 2017, Museum MACAN is Indonesia’s first museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art and has quickly become a key platform for international and interdisciplinary practice in Southeast Asia.
Running from 2025 to 2027, the tenth edition signals a strategic shift for the prize, broadening its reach while retaining its core mission: providing meaningful, long-term support to women artists at pivotal moments in their careers. By engaging with diverse cultural contexts, the prize aims to foster new artistic exchanges, expand its legacy, and create more equitable global opportunities.
The jury for this edition, chaired by Alemani, will include Venus Lau (Director, Museum MACAN), curator Amanda Ariawan, gallerist Megan Arlin, collector Evelyn Halim, and artist Melati Suryodarmo.
This milestone edition also marks the conclusion of the prize’s long-standing partnership with Whitechapel Gallery, which has played a central role since 2005 in supporting UK-based women artists. Over two decades, the collaboration has helped shape the careers of numerous artists through commissions, exhibitions, and international visibility.
As the Max Mara Art Prize for Women becomes truly global, its next chapter promises not only broader reach, but deeper cultural exchange — rethinking what sustained support for women artists can look like across borders.
Statement by Luigi Maramotti, President of Max Mara Fashion Group:
“Established by Max Mara in 2005, the Max Mara Art Prize for Women was born from our core values: a deep-seated commitment to supporting women’s empowerment. Creating an award that enabled artists to fully realize their potential was, at the time, a truly groundbreaking endeavor. It provided a one-of-a-kind opportunity for holistic growth—nurturing artists not only technically and creatively, but also personally and culturally. Given its significant achievements within the UK art scene, I am more confident than ever in the direction that Max Mara and Collezione Maramotti are pursuing. As we take this initiative to the global stage, the prize will serve as an even more effective and significant springboard, advancing the careers of artists from a rich tapestry of cultures worldwide.”
