The Museo Jumex, in collaboration with the Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco, presents for the first time in Mexico three monumental bronze sculptures by Lebanese artist Simone Fattal, winner of the XLIX Prix International d’Art Contemporain (PIAC) 2025.

The works Adam and Eve (2021) and Door (2024) will be on display in the museum plaza from February 3 to March 1, 2026, activating the public space with a contemporary reflection on memory, the body, and myth.

The Prix International d'Art Contemporain (PIAC)

Created in 1965 and organized by the Fondation Prince Pierre since 1983, the PIAC has been awarded every three years since 2010. The jury is chaired by H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover and made up of an Artistic Committee. Each member of this committee selects three expert international sponsors who, under the artistic direction of Cristiano Raimondi, nominate works produced in the two years prior to the award edition. The selected work is considered the most accomplished and representative of an artist’s work.

In its 49th edition, held on October 14, 2025, at the Opéra Garnier in Monte Carlo, artist Simone Fattal was recognized with the award, worth €75,000, for her poetic, historical, and critical contribution to contemporary art. The selected work was Sempre il mare, uomo libero, amerai! (2023).

Simone Fattal: Career and Artistic Vision

Born in Damascus in 1942, Simone Fattal is currently considered one of the most influential figures in international contemporary creation. Her practice encompasses painting, sculpture, collage, writing, and publishing, with references that dialogue with classical sculpture, archaeology, mythology, memory, and the political tensions of the present.

After leaving Lebanon during the civil war, Fattal settled in California, where she founded the independent publishing house Post-Apollo Press. Her approach to ceramics and sculpture gave rise to a distinctive visual language, in which archaic bodies, figures in transit, and symbolic thresholds evoke the persistence of the human spirit in the face of history.

Artist Etel Adnan once wrote of her work: “When Simone Fattal faced her first piece of clay, she did not hesitate. Her fingers… turned that muddy mass into a standing person. It was an act of creation… an essential movement, one that separates the human species from the animal world.”

Fattal’s nomination for the PIAC was made by Christine Tohme, Lebanese curator and director of Ashkal Alwan, who highlighted the relevance of her work for understanding the social, political, and ecological realities of our time.

The PIAC in Mexico

Since 2013, each work awarded by the PIAC has been presented internationally. For the 2025 edition, the Fondation Prince Pierre chose Mexico City, in collaboration with the Jumex Museum, as the venue for the exhibition during art week, strengthening the cultural ties between Mexico and Monaco.

The Prince Pierre Foundation of Monaco

Founded on February 17, 1966, the Foundation was created as a tribute to Prince Pierre, father of Rainier III and grandfather of H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover. The institution promotes contemporary creation in literature, music, and the visual arts, and is currently chaired by H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover.