TUNIS.- BIM’26 will be part of the contemporary art biennale Jaou Tunis, in an unprecedented collaboration with Kamel Lazaar Foundation.
The Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève is pleased to release the names of the artists participating in the 2026 edition of the Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement (BIM’26). Co-directors Lina Lazaar, vice president of the Kamel Lazaar Foundation, and Andrea Bellini, director of the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, worked with an international committee of six membres to draw up the list.
In October 2026, BIM will exceptionally expand beyond Switzerland, featuring in Jaou Tunis, now in its eighth edition under the auspices of the Kamel Lazaar Foundation.
The artists selected for BIM’26 represent a new global vanguard: Tabarak Allah Abbas, Younès Ben Slimane, Mona Benyamin, S.A. Chavarría, Leena Habiballa, Roman Selim Khereddine, Zein Majali, Alaa Mansour, Paulo Nazareth, Diane Severin Nguyen, Liv Schulman, Hildegard Titus, Natasha Tontey, Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, Hajra Waheed, and Sarah Zeryab. Each will produce a new work premiering in Tunis, supported by a production budget and honorarium.
The selection committee consisted of Mohamed Almusibli, Shumon Basar, Fatma Cheffi, Adam HajYahia, Xue Tan, and Eyal Weizman, alongside Bellini and Lazaar.
The intercontinental collaboration marks a new chapter in BIM’s forty-year history. Founded in Geneva in 1985, BIM was among the first events devoted to artists’ moving images. Since 2014, it has focused on commissioning original new works rather than following an overarching theme, celebrating a plurality of perpsectives.
Bellini notes: “This could well be the most diverse group to date in BIM’s history. The strong presence of artists from across the Middle East and North Africa, and the fact that thirteen of the sixteen are women, reflects a deliberate commitment to bold, diverse voices. In dark times, this sends a powerful signal of our determination to champion a range of artistic perspectives.”
The 2026 edition will be a large-scale collaboration between the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève and the Kamel Lazaar Foundation, encompassing an exhibition in Tunis, public programs, and a co-edited publication. Together, the two institutions aim to establish an ambitious new platform on the African contient. As Lazaar explains: “Bringing BIM to Tunis is more than a celebration of moving images. It is an opportunity to strengthen the skills of local cultural workers and technicians as they navigate complex conditions. Beyond the works premiering here, BIM builds a network that centers voices from the Global Majority. Its legacy will endure not only in the ideas it generates, but in the people and practices that grow around them.”
BIM’26 will open in Tunis before entering a phase of itinerance across Geneva, Venice and other cities to be announced.
