Marco da Silva Ferreira selected for the Chanel Next Prize

Backed by the Chanel Culture Fund, the Next Prize is a biennial award for artists working across disciplines including visual art, film, music and performance. According to French haute couture house Chanel’s website, it has a total value of €1 million and is intended to advance ambitious projects.

Marco da Silva Ferreira selected for the Chanel Next Prize

Marco da Silva Ferreira has been named on an international list that also includes Mexican artist Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, Spaniard Álvaro Urbano, Colombian Andrea Peña, French artist Pol Taburet, American Ambrose Akinmusire, Nigerian Emeka Ogboh, Indian Payal Kapadia, South Korean Ayoung Kim and Chinese artist Pan Daijing.

The recipients of this third edition will also join a two-year mentoring and networking programme involving partners including London’s Royal College of Art.

Born in Santa Maria da Feira in 1986, Marco da Silva Ferreira graduated in physiotherapy from Instituto Piaget in Gaia. He previously competed in high-level swimming, before directing his study of the body towards the performing arts.

As a performer, he has collaborated in Portugal and internationally with, among others, André Mesquita, Hofesh Shechter, Sylvia Rijmer, Tiago Guedes, Victor Hugo Pontes, Paulo Ribeiro and David Marques.

International tour of “Carcaça”

In 2025, Marco Ferreira da Silva toured internationally with his production “Carcaça”, which received the Portuguese Society of Authors’ Best Choreography award in 2023. The tour visited France, Japan, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Australia, among other countries.

Established by the Chanel Cultural Fund in 2021, the Next Prize was created to stimulate innovation by giving recipients the time and freedom to pursue ambitious new work. Each winner receives €100,000 "without restrictions, to accelerate the impact of their work," according to the organisation’s website.

"The Chanel Next Prize creates the conditions for artists to thrive on their own terms, each a pioneer shaping the present and defining the future with creativity and audacity. Following their journeys will be nothing short of exciting," writes Yana Peel, President of Arts, Culture and Heritage at the foundation, of the prize, which is open to artists of every age, gender and nationality.

Cape Verdean choreographer and dancer Marlene Monteiro Freitas received the Chanel Next Prize in 2021. Brazilian visual artist Dalton Paula was awarded it in 2024, after the first edition’s winners completed their creative programme in 2023.