THE ARTISTS NOMINATED FOR THE 2026 COAL PRIZE
We are delighted to announce the ten artists nominated for the 17th edition of the 2026 COAL Prize. The award…
THE ARTISTS NOMINATED FOR THE COAL STUDENT PRIZE
Three students from French art and cultural institutions have also been nominated for the seventh edition of the COAL Student Prize, in partnership with Réserves Naturelles de France.
Three students from French art and cultural institutions have also been nominated for the seventh edition of the COAL Student Prize, in partnership with Réserves Naturelles de France.
Image credits: Capucine Vever, Un jour, en ma présence, un mage retira l’horizon tout autour de moi (nividic), 2019 Série photographique réalisée dans le cadre de la résidence Finis Terrae sur l’île d’Ouessant ©ADAGP-VEVER 2026.
Published on 4 September 2026
The COAL Student Prize, also dedicated to the theme of The Night this year, supports and encourages emerging artists and students from French art and cultural schools who imagine, experiment with and propose concrete and creative solutions to ecological challenges through a residency programme in partnership with Réserves Naturelles de France.
THREE STUDENTS NOMINATED FOR THE COAL STUDENT PRIZE
Alexandre-Esteban Hernandez – Co-Disparition
Épiphanie Martin – TEK CARE
Marli Simons – Astral Boréal
PROJECTS’ PRESENTATION
Alexandre-Esteban Hernandez – Co-Disparition
With Co-Disparition, Alexandre-Esteban Hernandez takes the Tourbière des Dauges peat bog and its resident bats as his territory of observation, as they are particularly sensitive to disturbances to darkness. The project takes the form of a hand-printed woodcut, produced entirely by hand. The peat bog landscape appears traversed by its nocturnal fauna, insects and bioluminescent fungi, while different species of bats are superimposed onto the image. In response to light saturation and the acceleration of the world, Alexandre-Esteban Hernandez counters with the slowness of printmaking, the repetition of the gesture, and an image that forces the eye to rediscover its ability to adapt to darkness.
Born in 2001 in France, he is a student at École des Arts Décoratifs – PSL.
Épiphanie Martin – TEK CARE
The night is also the night of celebration. With TEK CARE, Épiphanie Martin draws on her experience of free parties in rural areas. Yet the celebrations that bring us closer to nature can also disturb it: light, noise and human presence in turn place pressure on nocturnal wildlife. It is within this contradiction that the project takes shape. During the night, the artist paints, photographs, collects and observes trees, the movements of living beings and shifts in her own perception. The landscapes she encounters become oil pastel paintings on recycled fabrics, accompanied by photographs, drawings, bark, leaves and other traces collected on site. TEK CARE does not seek to oppose celebration and nature, but to shift the gestures of the former in order to learn how to pay closer attention to the latter.
Born in 2003 in Dreux, she is a student at Villa Arson.
Marli Simons – Astral Boréal
With Astral Boréal, Marli Simons sets out to explore what the night still preserves of its imaginaries and of our former ways of inhabiting a territory. In the Morvan Regional Natural Park, the project unfolds in two stages. Daytime is devoted to research: meeting local inhabitants and collecting stories connected to agro-pastoral traditions, local histories and long-standing relationships with the living world. At night, another form of research begins. Marli Simons reverses their rhythm, staying awake and moving through the darkness with only a microphone and an analogue camera as tools. Infrared film, long exposures and sound recordings become instruments for an attentive observation open to what usually escapes the gaze. From these two modes of exploration, a hybrid film will emerge, somewhere between documentary and fiction.
Born in 2002 in Toulouse, he is a student at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris.
The 2026 COAL Student Prize is financially supported by the French Ministry of Culture, the French Biodiversity Agency (Office français de la Biodiversité) and MAIF, in partnership with Réserves Naturelles de France.
