BAP 2027

The jury was convinced by the originality, consistency and brilliance of Biscotti’s work. She explores pressing social issues – such as climate crisis, migration and postcolonialism – in a subtle and nuanced manner. Biscotti integrates broad historical narratives with subjective personal experiences, bringing to life the multiplicity of stories that exist in the margins of official History. The forms and materials that she employs to embody her research-driven practice are diverse and surprising.

While Biscotti has received significant international recognition through major exhibitions in institutions across Europe, her work has had little exposure in Belgium in recent years. The jury felt it was the right moment to award her the BelgianArtPrize, thereby increasing the visibility of her practice and acknowledging her influential, though often understated, position within the Belgian art scene. Her work speaks to a generation of artists whose practices have had an impact on the broader cultural landscape in Belgium and beyond.

Rossella Biscotti (1978) lives between Rotterdam and Brussels.
Biscotti’s practice spans among sculpture, performance, sound, and filmmaking. Stemming from extended research processes, personal encounters, interdisciplinary collaborations, and subtle interrogations of sites and histories, her work engages deeply with spatial installations and material experimentation, linking themes of memory, identity, and social structures. In recent years, the artist has focused on the relationships between body, state, and environment—developing new imaginaries that connect institutional critique with ecological and speculative methodologies.

Rossella Biscotti has participated in major exhibitions in important institutions, including Thailand Biennial (2025), Sharjah Biennial 16 (2025), Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale (2024), Dhaka Art Summit in Bangladesh (2020), Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam (2019), V-A-C Foundation, Moscow (2016), 55th Venice Biennale, the 13th Istanbul Biennial (2013), dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel (2012), and Manifesta 9, Genk (2012). Her most recent solo exhibition was held at Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli-Turin, in 2024. Biscotti has received several awards, including the Stipendium Mies van der Rohe (2015), MAXXI Premio Italia Arte Contemporanea (2010), the second prize at the Prix de Rome (2009), and the City of Geneva Grand Prize at the 12th Biennial of Moving Images, Geneva (2007).

As the jury was highly impressed by the quality of the artistic practices presented for the BelgianArtPrize 2027, it decided not only to select a laureate but also to award three Special Jury Prizes to Jot Fau, Ariane Loze, and Guy Woueté. They will be given a group exhibition at the Ixelles Museum at the end of 2027, along with a prize of €5,000.

Since 2017, there has no longer been an open call; instead, a list of nominators is compiled every two years. With this list of around 40 leading figures from the Belgian contemporary art world, the prize seeks more than ever to reflect the multiplicity and diversity of voices within the Belgian art scene. Each nominator may put forward two artists. Belgian contemporary art institutions are also invited to cast a preferential vote, which feeds directly into the shortlijst. All nominations are made anonymously.