Cukrarna on the International Jury for the Han Nefkens Foundation – Mediterranean Video Art Production Grant
Curators Alenka Trebušak and Alenka Gregorič from Cukrarna Gallery were among the members of the international jury for the inaugural Han Nefkens Foundation – Mediterranean Video Art Production Grant 2026. Together with representatives of six other partner institutions, they took part in the process of selection of the artist who received production support to create a new video work.
The jury, chaired by Han Nefkens, selected the French-Lebanese artist and filmmaker Valentin Noujaïm as the recipient of the first edition of the grant. His work explores cities and architecture as spaces shaped by memory, control, social systems and power relations, combining documentary and fictional approaches. He will receive €25,000 towards the production of a new video work.
The grant was initiated by Katerina Gregos, Director of EMST – National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens, and brings together seven institutions: EMST, Cukrarna, Bonner Kunstverein, Havremagasinet Länskonsthall, Fotografiska Shanghai, Salt in Istanbul and MACRO in Rome. The jury was composed of Han Nefkens, Alenka Gregorič, Alenka Trebušak, Viktor Neumann, Katerina Gregos, Stamatis Schizakis, Ioli Tzanetaki, Deniz Ova, Amira Akbıyıkoğlu, Mariangela Mendez Prencke, Peipei Han, and Cristiana Perrella, with the participation of Hilde Teerlinck and Alessandra Biscaro. Once completed, the new work will be presented at all partner institutions of the project, including Cukrarna Gallery.
Read more about the project here: Grants I Han Nefkens Foundation—Mediterranean Video Art Production Grant 2026, Valentin Noujaïm
Alenka Gregorič and Alenka Trebušak were involved from the selection stage, contributing their curatorial knowledge and experience to the collective decision-making process and the development of the production. Collaborations of this kind provide an opportunity for direct engagement with different curatorial approaches, artistic practices and models of supporting new artistic production.
Cukrarna’s involvement in international curatorial and production networks creates opportunities for knowledge exchange while strengthening connections between its programme and current artistic practices across the international art scene. Participation in international selection processes is also an important part of the development of Cukrarna’s curatorial programme, which is developed in-house by the curatorial team.