Talents Contemporains
Competition
Earth - Abbaye de Pontigny

The Domaine de l’Abbaye de Pontigny—a 9-hectare Cistercian masterpiece featuring 6,000 m² of historic buildings—is embarking on a new chapter under the leadership of the François Schneider Foundation. Following its focus on “Water” in Alsace, the Foundation is establishing its second major anchor in Burgundy around a central theme: Earth.

While the future Contemporary Art Center is currently in the design phase within the former Bâtiment des Convers (Lay Brothers’ Building), the Foundation is already bringing life to the site. In June 2026, it is launching its international “Contemporary Talents” competition around the theme of Earth, inviting artists to imagine outdoor sculptures and installations that will permanently inhabit the landscaped grounds. The winning artworks will be installed at the heart of the estate’s exceptional gardens, launching a unique collection. For visitors, this promises an immersive stroll where contemporary art engages in a dialogue with nature and sacred heritage.

Discover the Pontigny Abbey site

This call for applications is open to artists or artist collectives of all ages (adults) and nationalities, whose practice falls within the scope of the visual and plastic arts.

• Profile: Applicants must demonstrate professional artistic activity, significant experience, and regular exhibition/distribution of their work (art school degree, solo and/or group exhibitions, artist residencies, publications, etc.). Artists already featured in the Wattwiller collection (winners of the “Water” themed competition) are eligible to participate in this “Earth” edition.

• Eligible Disciplines: For this 2026 inaugural edition, the competition is open to artists presenting a work on the theme of Earth in the following fields: sculpture and installation.

Please note: Applications featuring any other artistic medium will not be considered.

• Artwork Format: The submitted artwork (whether it consists of a single piece or a series/set) must focus exclusively on the theme of Earth. Each candidate may submit only one artwork or project per year.

An Existing Artwork. Only completed works may be submitted. No additional production budget will be allocated. The artwork presented, which may consist of a single piece or a set, must be a unique edition.

For sculptures, if the work includes editions or multiple copies, the François Schneider Foundation reserves the right to reduce the prize grant to €8,000. The candidate undertakes to inform the Foundation of the exact number of existing copies. An artwork may be composed of a series or various modules.

Artists are invited to submit realistic, figurative, or abstract proposals that offer a unique and sensitive perspective on the theme of Earth. The originality and relevance of the artwork, as well as its aesthetic vision and the technical feasibility of its installation on the landscaped grounds of the Domaine de l’Abbaye de Pontigny, will be the primary criteria evaluated by the Expert Committee and the Grand Jury.

Selection of Artworks
An Expert Committee and an International Grand Jury will meet successively:

The Expert Committee
An expert committee will review all received applications and pre-select the finalists. The roughly thirty finalist applications will then be presented to the Grand Jury.

The International Grand Jury
Chaired by Christine Macel, this Grand Jury will select 4 to 5 winners from among the thirty finalists for the “Contemporary Talents – Earth – Pontigny Abbey” prize. Their artworks will be acquired by the Foundation.

• Christine Macel, Jury President – General Curator of Heritage, art historian, and exhibition curator.
• Colette Barbier – Founder and Director of the Pernod Ricard Foundation until 2020. President of La Source Garouste.
• Frédéric Bodet – Independent exhibition curator and critic specializing in 20th and 21st-century decorative arts and design; lecturer at HEAD – Genève since 2023.
• Angelo Crespi – Director General of the Pinacoteca di Brera. Head of the “Grande Brera”, Italy.
• Jean Frémon – President of Galerie Lelong & Co, Paris and New York.
• Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez – Head of Curatorial Public Art at the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi since 2026. Independent curator and former Head of Artistic and Cultural Programming at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris (until 2025).

NB: The Expert Committee and the Grand Jury members are subject to change depending on availability.

• June to August: Online call for applications period
• September to October: Review of applications and pre-selection of around thirty finalists by the Expert Committee
• November: International Grand Jury deliberations and announcement of the winners
• Spring: Installation of the artworks on the landscaped grounds

For each edition, the International Grand Jury will select a maximum of 4 to 5 winners.

• Each winner will receive a grant of €15,000. This amount includes the merit prize and the official acquisition of the artwork, which will join the collection of the François Schneider Foundation.
• Special Case: The grant is set at €8,000 if the acquired artwork is a sculpture produced in multiple numbered editions.

Applications can only be submitted electronically after registering on the François Schneider Foundation website by clicking the Individual registration or Collective registration buttons at the top of this page.

Application files must be written in French for French-speaking candidates, and in English for all other candidates.

Applications must mandatory include:

Administrative Section

• Completed registration form, alongside the signed, read, and approved rules and regulations (PDF format).
• A copy of a valid government-issued ID (recto/verso ID card or passport) (PDF format).

Artistic Section

• Your CV and/or an introduction to the artist collective, demonstrating an established artistic career (work recently exhibited in institutions, galleries, festivals, etc., or participation in artist residencies) (PDF format, 2 pages maximum).
• Your portfolio / artistic dossier presenting your overall body of work (PDF format, 20 A4 pages maximum, 30 MB maximum).
• A statement of intent presenting the artwork, the artist’s approach for the competition, and their intellectual and creative process (PDF format, 2 pages maximum).
• A precise technical sheet of the existing artwork: title, materials, technique, dimensions (height, width, depth), weight, constraints, and technical requirements for display (ground anchoring) and transport, as well as instructions for care and maintenance to ensure its longevity (PDF format, 2 pages maximum).
• 3 to 5 color visuals (photograph, drawing, diagram, 3D modeling, blueprint, etc.) (JPG format, 5 MB maximum per visual).
• A video excerpt or video recording to contextualize the artwork (MOV/MP4 format, 4 GB maximum, optional).

NB: The Jury will highly appreciate clear, concise applications and proposals that align harmoniously with the François Schneider Foundation collection.

Any incomplete application or one that does not comply with the above instructions will not be submitted to the Expert Committee or the International Grand Jury.

In the event of technical difficulties related to internet connection, candidates should contact the Organizer as soon as possible. We strongly encourage you to submit your application well in advance to avoid server slowdowns that might prevent your submission from reaching us on time.

IMPORTANT

The submitted artworks must be designed to integrate sustainably into the Domaine de l’Abbaye de Pontigny. The Organizer reserves the right to relocate them if the operational life of the site requires it. If a relocation becomes necessary, the Organizer will consult with the artist to manage the logistics in the best possible way.

Call for applications TC Earth
Rules and Regulations TC Earth