Madagascar’s Joël andrianomearisoa is gaining international recognition, underscored by his nomination for the 2026 Marcel Duchamp Prize-a prestigious award celebrating innovation in contemporary art. The announcement, made january 8 by the Association for the International Diffusion of French Art (Adiaf), highlights Andrianomearisoa’s critically important contributions to the visual arts and his role as a leading voice for Malagasy artists. The winner will be revealed October 22 at the Musée d’Art moderne de Paris, following an exhibition of nominees’ work opening October 2.
Madagascar’s Joël Andrianomearisoa is among the four artists nominated for the prestigious 2026 Marcel Duchamp Prize, a major honor in the contemporary art world. The winner will be revealed October 22 at the Musée d’Art moderne de Paris.
The Association for the International Diffusion of French Art (Adiaf) announced the nominees January 8, recognizing an innovative artist representative of their generation working in the visual arts. Andrianomearisoa is represented by Almine Rech gallery in Paris and Sabrina Amrani gallery in Madrid.
An exhibition of work by the four nominees will open at the Musée d’Art moderne de Paris on October 2, remaining on view through February 14, 2027.
Andrianomearisoa is a celebrated and engaged artist who lives and works between Paris, Antananarivo, and Magnat-l’Étrange. After earning a degree in architecture from the École spéciale d’architecture de Paris in 2003, he has spent over two decades developing a diverse body of work encompassing installation, sculpture, textiles, and architecture. His work, often characterized by a dominant use of black, explores themes of emptiness, rhythm, memory, and language.
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Since 2020, he has also served as co-founder and artistic director of Hakanto Contemporary, an independent space in Antananarivo dedicated to supporting artists, with backing from the Yavarhoussen Fund. The space promotes contemporary Malagasy creation and fosters artistic exchange regionally and internationally.
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Andrianomearisoa represented Madagascar at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019 and has exhibited at prominent institutions including the MAXXI in Rome, Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington D.C., the Centre Pompidou, and most recently, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. He was also a recipient of the Arco Madrid Audemars Piguet Prize in 2016.
On May 31, 2025, three of his works, collectively titled *Les Herbes folles du Vieux Logis*, joined the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York, within the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing dedicated to non-Western art. This marks the first time an artist from Madagascar has been included in the MET’s collection, a significant milestone for his career and the visibility of Malagasy contemporary art on the global stage.
With this nomination for the Marcel Duchamp Prize, Joël Andrianomearisoa solidifies his position as a leading figure in international contemporary art. His career, blending creative boldness, cultural commitment, and Malagasy representation, exemplifies both individual excellence and the universal reach of artistic creation. The artist continues to forge a unique path, with each work engaging with the world and opening new perspectives for Malagasy art on the world stage.
