Indonesian artist Dian Suci has been named the winner of the tenth edition of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women.
The announcement was made by Cecilia Alemani during an event held alongside the opening of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia on 7 May 2026.
The prize is organised by Max Mara, Collezione Maramotti and Museum MACAN. It supports emerging and mid-career women artists at key stages of their careers.
As part of the award, Suci will undertake a six-month travelling residency across Italy.
The programme has been designed by Collezione Maramotti to support the development of her proposed project, titled Crafting Spirit: Cultural Dialogues in Heritage and Practice.
The residency will conclude with a solo exhibition at Museum MACAN in Jakarta in summer 2027, followed by another presentation at Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
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Residency to Explore Craft, Spirituality and Labour
Suci, who was born in Kebumen in 1985 and is based in Yogyakarta, was selected from a shortlist that included Betty Adii, Dzikra Afifah, Ipeh Nur and Mira Rizki.
Her artistic practice focuses on domestic narratives, women’s experiences and political power. She works across installation, painting, sculpture and video.
According to the organisers, Suci’s winning proposal examines the relationship between religious craft traditions and capitalism in Indonesia and Italy.
The project will focus on the production of devotional objects and religious imagery, while exploring how spirituality continues within systems shaped by commercialisation and mass production.
During the residency, Suci will travel to several Italian cities. In Assisi, Umbria, she will study the daily life of monks and examine the relationship between religion and commercialisation.
In Rome, she will attend a special mass at St Peter’s Basilica. She will then continue to Lecce, Puglia, to study papier-mâché techniques, before completing the residency in Florence, Tuscany, where she will learn egg tempera painting and traditional weaving methods connected to ecclesiastical practices.
In a statement, Suci said: “I am deeply honoured to be selected as the recipient of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women. My proposal, Crafting Spirit: Cultural Dialogues in Heritage and Practice, emerges from stories of the body and memory within the lives and gestures of women artisans, whose work often exists between devotion and survival.”
“This recognition offers me the opportunity to expand my research between Indonesia and Italy, and to learn from traditions and rituals that hold spirituality within the bodies that create,” she added.
About the Max Mara Art Prize for Women
The Max Mara Art Prize for Women is a pioneering biennial award established in 2005 by Max Mara Fashion Group in collaboration with the Whitechapel Gallery. In 2007, Collezione Maramotti joined as an additional partner, further strengthening the award’s commitment to supporting contemporary women artists.
Created to promote and nurture women-identifying artists at a pivotal stage in their careers, the prize offers far more than financial support. It provides increased international visibility, professional development opportunities, and the resources necessary to create an ambitious new body of work.
Between 2005 and 2024, the prize was open to women-identifying artists of any age living and working in the UK who had not yet received a major solo exhibition.
What distinguishes the prize is its unique residency model. Rather than awarding a one-time cash prize, the winner undertakes a specially tailored residency programme across Italy, organised by Collezione Maramotti.
The residency is designed around the artist’s individual practice and research interests, providing valuable time, space, and mentorship to develop a new project inspired by Italian culture, history, and traditions.
