The Prince Pierre Foundation Brings Contemporary Art to Mexico City: A Tribute to Simone Fattal

The Prince Pierre of Monaco Foundation, in collaboration with the Jumex Museum in Mexico City, presents three monumental bronze sculptures by French-Lebanese artist Simone Fattal, winner of the 49th International Prize for Contemporary Art 2025. The works Adam and Eve (2021) and Door (2024) will be displayed on the Jumex Museum esplanade from February 3 to March 1, 2026, offering a powerful contemporary reflection on memory, the body, and myth.

The International Prize for Contemporary Art (IPCA)

Established in 1965 and organized by the Prince Pierre of Monaco Foundation since 1983, the IPCA is one of the most prestigious awards on the international art scene. This edition is artistically directed by Cristiano Raimondi.
The prize, endowed with €75,000, has been awarded every three years since 2010 by an Artistic Council chaired by H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover. Each member of the Council appoints three international art experts, tasked with presenting a work created within the past two years and considered the most accomplished and representative of an artist’s practice.

On October 14, 2025, during the Awards Ceremony held at the Opéra Garnier in Monte-Carlo, the Foundation awarded the 49th International Prize for Contemporary Art to Simone Fattal for her work Sempre il mare, uomo libero, amerai ! (2023).

Simone Fattal: career and artistic vision

Born in 1942 in Damascus, Simone Fattal is today regarded as one of the leading voices of international contemporary creation. Her artistic practice encompasses painting, sculpture, collage, writing, and publishing, and is deeply influenced by history and the contemporary world, as well as by classical sculpture, mythology, and archaic forms.

Forced to flee the Lebanese civil war, Fattal settled in California in the 1980s, where she founded the independent publishing house Post-Apollo Press, dedicated to poetry and contemporary literature, notably the works of Etel Adnan. After enrolling at the San Francisco Art Institute, she began working with ceramics, a medium that has remained central to her artistic practice ever since.

As Etel Adnan once wrote, when Simone Fattal first confronted clay, it was an act of creation: transforming raw matter into movement and vital impulse, recreating the primal gesture that distinguishes humanity from the animal world.

Simone Fattal’s nomination for the IPCA was proposed by Christine Tohme, Lebanese curator and director of Ashkal Alwan, who emphasized the relevance of Fattal’s work in understanding the social, political, and ecological realities of our time.

The IPCA in Mexico City

Since 2013, the IPCA laureate has been presented outside the Principality of Monaco as part of a major international event. For the 2025 edition, the Prince Pierre Foundation selected the Jumex Museum in Mexico City, presenting the exhibition within the framework of the city’s Art Week.

The Prince Pierre of Monaco Foundation

The Prince Pierre of Monaco Foundation was founded on February 17, 1966, by H.S.H. Prince Rainier III, in tribute to his father, Prince Pierre, a great patron of literature and the arts.
Today, under the presidency of H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover, the Foundation’s mission is to support and promote contemporary creation.

Each year, H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince awards the Foundation’s main prizes on the recommendation of its three councils: the literary, musical, and artistic councils. The Literary Prize and the Discovery Grant are awarded annually, while the Music Composition Prize, the International Prize for Contemporary Art, and the Research Grant are awarded every three years.