SOFIA.- The Singer-Zahariev Foundation announces the shortlist for the 2026 Balkan Contemporary Art Prize (BCAP), the first international prize dedicated exclusively to contemporary art from the Balkans region.

An international jury—Bénédicte Alliot (France), René Block (Germany), Milena Edvig (Bulgaria), Snejana Krasteva (Bulgaria), and Sanja Kojić Mladenov (Serbia)—selected seven works from 27 submissions spanning Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia.

Shortlisted artists and works

Armando Lulaj (Albania)—UNTITLED (Exhibition Display / Radio Desertion), installation, mixed media, 2023–30 / Krasimira Butseva (Bulgaria / United Kingdom)—Cartography of Absence, photography, video, sound, photobook, 2025 / Robert Jankuloski & Monika Moteska (North Macedonia)—Sharpening of Pain, two-screen video installation, 2024 / Biljana Djurdjevic (Serbia)—PRESENT STATE, project, three polyptychs, oil on canvas, 2023–26 / Ivana Ivković (Serbia)—THE BASE OF TRUST (MONUMENT OF TRUST), performance, installation, video, 2024 / Mladen Miljanović (Bosnia and Herzegovina)—The Final Battle, film (as delegated performance), 2025 / Nika Autor (Slovenia)—Ecologies of Solidarity—Newsreels of Tomorrow, video installation, 2024–25.

The works selected by the jury across different media—painting, video, installation, photography, performance—speak of inherited pain, institutional violence, ecological loss, the persistence of the body as a site of resistance: works that could not have been made anywhere else, yet speak well beyond their own geography.

Jury statement

The jury was struck by the breadth and urgency of the submitted works. Across media—painting, video, installation, photography, performance—the seven selected works engage with memory, the trauma of transition, migration, patriarchal structures and the textures of everyday life under conditions of structural instability. The shortlist reflects a region with strong European aspirations producing some of the most vibrant and engaged art in Europe today.

The Balkan Contemporary Art Prize is the first international prize dedicated exclusively to contemporary art from the Balkans. Initiated and supported by the Singer-Zahariev Foundation, BCAP brings together artists from Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia—offering them international visibility, critical recognition, and a platform for dialogue within and beyond the European art world.

The finalist exhibition takes place at BUNA 4.0 Forum for Contemporary Art, Varna, Bulgaria, October 2–5 , 2026—one of the most dynamic platforms for contemporary art in the region. The Prize (3,000 EUR) will be awarded at a public ceremony during the forum. The Jury will award further Buna prizes and Special mentions.