Portuguese choreographer awarded

Chanel Next Prize: a €1 million biennial award from the Chanel Culture Fund

Backed by the Chanel Culture Fund, the Next Prize is a biennial award worth one million euros. As outlined on the website of French haute couture house Chanel, it is designed to support artists working across disciplines including visual arts, film, music and performance, with the aim of helping ambitious projects move forwards.

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

The winners in this third edition will additionally take part in a two-year mentoring and networking programme, delivered with partners that include the Royal College of Art in London.

Marco da Silva Ferreira and the Chanel Next Prize selection

Born in Santa Maria da Feira in 1986, Marco da Silva Ferreira trained in physiotherapy at Instituto Piaget in Gaia. He also pursued high-level competitive swimming, while directing his academic focus towards the body within the performing arts.

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

In 2025, Marco Ferreira da Silva toured his production “Carcaça” internationally. The work received the Best Choreography prize from the Portuguese Society of Authors in 2023, and the tour itinerary included France, Japan, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Australia, among other destinations.

Established in 2021 by the Chanel Cultural Fund, the Next Prize aims to catalyse innovation by giving recipients the time and space needed to pursue bold new work. The scheme awards €100,000 to each winner "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, describing a prize open to artists of every age, gender and nationality.

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