Paris- and Luxembourg-based duo David Brognon and Stéphanie Rollin won the 2026 Prix Marcel Duchamp on October 22 at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris. The artists secured France’s biggest art prize for an installation featuring sobriety tokens inside reprogrammed fairground coin-pusher machines.
The 26th edition of the Prix Marcel-Duchamp concluded on October 22, 2026, at the Musée d’Art moderne de Paris during the capital’s art week, which was impacted by a social movement that forced the Art Basel Paris fair to close prematurely before the weekend. David Brognon, born in Belgium in 1978, and Stéphanie Rollin, born in Luxembourg in 1980, began collaborating in 2006 after meeting at the Mudam contemporary art museum in Luxembourg where they worked. Operating under the moniker Brognon Rollin, the duo surpassed a short list featuring Malagasy visual artist Joël Andrianomearisoa, French photographer and filmmaker Laura Henno, and multidisciplinary artist Josèfa Ntjam.
As the winners, Brognon Rollin will receive €35,000 from the total prize fund, with separate figures noting a €35,000 award. Meanwhile, each of the three runners-up will receive €10,000 ($11,000) to assist with developing their exhibition projects. The overall prize pool reaches €90,000 in total prize funds, which includes €35,000 specifically allocated for the winner.
Sobriety Tokens and Fairground Machines at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris
Within the exhibition space, these tokens fill fairground coin-pusher machines. The mechanisms were reprogrammed so that their rakes activate at intervals ranging from one minute to twelve hours, yet the tokens themselves remain largely stationary. Three remote-controlled light appliques accompany the installation, with their intensity managed by Kate, an individual sober for eight years who alters the lighting in real-time through an application based on her emotions.
With Brognon Rollin, the Marcel Duchamp Prize recognizes a demanding body of work that is committed to materializing what usually escapes the eye: the time of waiting, of addiction, and of intimate resistance.
Exhibition Shifts Venues Due to Centre Pompidou Renovations
The exhibition is hosted in partnership with the Centre Pompidou and the Association for the International Diffusion of French Art (ADIAF).
Because the Centre Pompidou is closed for renovations through 2030, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris will host the prize’s exhibitions until 2029. The judging panel also featured artist Kader Attia, who won the prize in 2016, artist Berlinde de Bruyckere, Karin Hindsbo, interim director of Tate Modern, Christophe Leribault, president-director of the Musée du Louvre, and Franco-Beninese collector Marie-Cécile Zinsou.
| Award Category / Participant | Details |
|---|---|
| Winner | Brognon Rollin (€35,000 prize) |
| Runners-Up | Joël Andrianomearisoa, Laura Henno, Josèfa Ntjam (€10,000 each) |
| Exhibition Venue | Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (through February 7, 2027) |
Jury Assessment and Institutional Legacy
The awards ceremony was attended by winners Brognon Rollin alongside Joël Andrianomearisoa, Laura Henno, Josèfa Ntjam, Odile Burluraux, Nicolas Liucci-Goutnikov, Alain Lombard, and Xavier Rey. The recognized duo’s broader practice encompasses installations, video, performance, and conceptual interventions touching upon marginalized populations, systems of control, confinement, expectation, and intimate resistance.
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