MILAN — After two decades, the Max Mara Art Prize for Women is becoming nomadic.
The first partner in this new phase of the initiative will be the Museum MACAN in Nusantara in Jakarta, Indonesia. Founded in 2017, it is the country’s first museum of contemporary art.
On Thursday morning at the Max Mara headquarters in Milan, Luigi Maramotti, president of the Max Mara Fashion Group, proudly introduced this new development, curated by Cecilia Alemani, director and chief curator of High Line Art in New York.
Together with Max Mara and Collezione Maramotti, the family’s private contemporary art collection and gallery, Alemani will identify a different country and institution as the focus of each new edition to support the work of emerging and midcareer artists who identify as women.
Maramotti recalled how the prize was established in 2005 stemming “from our commitment to support women’s empowerment and offering an opportunity that did not exist in the West at the time.”
Back then, he said, “creating an award that enabled women artists to fully realize their potential was 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.”
Smiling, he said the initiative was seen by some as “politically incorrect,” targeting only women, and it was precisely this kind of comment that drove him to proceed, just as he did now traveling to Indonesia.
“The prize becomes nomadic in a difficult context,” he admitted, and this idea of making the prize itinerant was aligned with being once again “politically incorrect, in a world that is closing on itself, grappling with fear and uncertainty, but we dare to explore this world and bring the prize to a different level.”
In light of this scenario, “we turned to Cecilia. She knows how to walk on an alternative path,” said Maramotti.
He praised the “very special” partnership with the Whitechapel Gallery in London, which has been the prize’s partner since its first edition in 2005, and led to successful achievements, he touted.
This is the 10th edition of the biennial prize and marks the conclusion of the partnership with Whitechapel Gallery, which has played a fundamental role and is renowned for its commitment to promoting emerging and established women artists, said Maramotti, significantly boosting their visibility.
Because of the positive trajectory within the U.K. art scene, Maramotti said he was “more confident than ever” in the new direction of the prize. “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.”
Max Mara, which celebrates 75 years in business in 2026, underscored the women’s role within the company, making up 70 percent of its workforces, and offering womenswear collections that aim to empower women, ever since his father Achille founded the company in 1951, he said.
Indonesia was chosen because the country “has many of the characteristics we were looking for,” explained Alemani. “It’s one of the world’s most populous countries, with 280 million people. It’s a very young nation, where 68 million people are aged less than 25 years and the average age is 38. It has a fragmented geographical identity, with 17,000 islands. There is much to discover, the artistic scene is recent, dating back to the end of the 1980s, and offers a wide plurality of social and cultural voices.”
She added that the decision to bring the prize to Indonesia reflected “not only a geographic expansion, but a clear statement: in our era, the West holds no monopoly on artistic innovation.”
Alemani, who was the first Italian woman to hold the position of curator of the Venice Art Biennale in 2022, is also the chair of the jury, which this edition will comprise the director of the Museum MACAN Venus Lau; curator Amanda Ariawan; gallerist Megan Arlin; collector Evelyn Halim, and artist Melati Suryodarmo.
Between March and May, five finalists and the winner of the prize will be revealed, followed by a bespoke six-month residency in Italy. The purpose of the residency organized by Collezione Maramotti is to provide the winner with the time and space to focus on the creation of a new artistic project, which will then be exhibited in two solo shows: one at the partner institution for that edition, and the other at Collezione Maramotti, which will acquire the works.
Alemani described the prize as “an outstanding model of support for female artists. With its newly global, traveling format, the award is evolving into a full-fledged tool of cultural diplomacy and international dialogue.”
To be sure, the current geopolitical and social scenario was top of mind for all those present and the prize was seen as a way to build “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,” said Alemani.
Sara Piccinini, director of Collezione Maramotti, said this new course of the prize “fits in perfectly with the mission of Collezione Maramotti, which aspires to serve as a mirror for the original, innovative, ambitious artistic ideas and practices of our time.”
Collezione Maramotti opened to the public in 2007 at the former historical headquarters of the Max Mara company in Reggio Emilia. In addition to a permanent collection of more than 200 works from 1950 to 2019, it regularly presents new projects and commissions from international midcareer and emergent artists.
Previous winners of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women range from, most recently, Dominique White and Emma Talbot, to Margaret Salmon in the first edition, followed by Hannah Rickards.
“The prize will continue to be a fundamental contribution to achieving truly equal opportunity for women artists, building bridges to other parts of the world, fostering creative diversity and offering inspiration and positive models to new generations of artists,” said Piccinini.
In a statement, Gilane Tawadros, director of Whitechapel Gallery, expressed her pride in having been “a formative partner” of the prize, which “has played a vital role in the ecosystem of the U.K. art landscape for two decades.”
“We are committed to safeguarding the prize’s important legacy and look forward to seeing its continuing impact value and support for women artists across the globe, as it enters this new phase in its development,” said Tawadros.
MACAN’s director Lau said the prize, “as a leading platform that amplifies women’s voices in the international art world, plays a key role in shaping contemporary discourse and expanding opportunities for women artists. We are proud to be part of this initiative and to foster a cultural exchange that will continue beyond this edition.”
She touted how the six-month residency in Italy will allow “in-depth research, expanded networks and working methods that may not yet be available locally. Its impact extends not only to the selected artist, but also to Indonesia’s broader art ecosystem, which continues to strengthen its support for women artists. This prize encourages new conversations about representation, opportunities and perspectives, while positioning the practices of Indonesian women artists within a more equitable global dialogue.”
