Binta Diaw

"Art to aid the sick, art that listens to the sick, art that repairs, regenerates and gives hope. The Pujade-Lauraine – Carta Bianca Prize will henceforth support eight artists each year, chosen by a committee of eight Franco-Italian experts.

For its inaugural edition, the jury awarded its first prize to the Senegalese-Italian artist Binta Diaw (born in 1955 in Milan) and presented by Anissa Touati, French independent curator and archaeologist by training. Her work highlights "the importance of ancestors, traditions, rituals, bodies, stories and the voices that have been rendered invisible by writers of history." For example, her work "Diaspora" is inspired by "the practice of braiding by African women working on plantations, those who pursued marronage – the paths slaves followed to attempt escape – and whose hair would sometimes contain seeds of their homeland, carried as an act of resistance and resilience.

"I am very happy to have won a Franco-Italian prize because, in one way or another, these places are part of me and my identity," said Binta Diaw, who is also represented by the galleries Cécile Fakhoury, which recently moved to Avenue Matignon in Paris (8th), and ChertLüdde in Berlin. "It is also a human prize, as it bridges the gap between art and cancer patients, a prize that speaks of rebirth, like my work. I thank Anissa Touati with whom I look forward to collaborating on future projects, and especially Eric and Isabelle Pujade-Lauraine, for the incredible idea of supporting young contemporary artists." Binta Diaw has had solo exhibitions at the Galerie Cécile Fakhoury (Dakar, 2022 and Abidjan, 2021), at MADRE (Naples, 2022), at the Italian Cultural Institute (Paris, 2022), at MAD (Florence, 2021), and at Palazzo Grimani (Venice, 2015).