The 16th edition of the EDP Foundation New Artists Prize has selected seven emerging artists in Portugal as finalists, with the winner set to receive €20,000.
As reported by Lusa, the jury selected Daniela Ângelo, Eduardo Antonio, Inês Mendes Leal, Maria Paz Aires, Sara Graça, Sofia Mascate and Teresa Murta from 550 applications.
The group will be featured in an exhibition at the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon in the first quarter of 2027.
Each finalist will receive €6,000 towards producing the work they intend to present at the exhibition, and the organisers may also award an honourable mention worth €5,000 to one of the selected artists.
A separate jury will decide the final winner, including artists Graça Morais, Pedro Cabrita Reis and Pedro Calapez, alongside other Portuguese and international figures from the visual arts.
A panel comprising MAAT director João Pinharanda, art historian Catarina Rosendo and curator Eva Mendes selected the shortlist, as the three will curate the exhibition and follow the artists’ projects as they develop ahead of its opening.
Pinharanda said the selection focused on artists early in establishing themselves in Portugal’s art scene who already demonstrate the ability to develop distinctive artistic languages.
The shortlisted works reflect a range of approaches to contemporary art, spanning painting, sculpture, photography, installation, sound and moving images.
Meet the finalists
Born in Almada in 1996, Daniela Ângelo lives and works in Lisbon, having studied photography at Ar.Co – Centre for Art and Visual Communication. Her recent solo exhibitions include “Quimera” at Galeria Francisco Fino in 2025 and “Ovo Celeste” at Convento dos Capuchos in 2024. In 2024, she received a scholarship through a partnership between the Júlio Pomar Atelier-Museum and Residency Unlimited in New York, and was nominated for Plat(t)form, an initiative organised by Switzerland’s Fotomuseum Winterthur.
Eduardo Antonio, born in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil, in 1991, initially studied cinema in Brazil before completing a master’s degree in painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, where he is now based. Painting is central to his work, which explores the relationship between what can be seen and the unconscious, drawing inspiration from dreams, silence, the night and folklore. Since 2021, he has exhibited in Portugal, Brazil, France, Spain and England.
Multidisciplinary artist Inês Mendes Leal, born in 1997, is also based in Lisbon. Her practice examines how air affects objects and how movement that cannot be directly seen can be recreated within an exhibition space.
Maria Paz Aires, born in Porto in 1998, divides her time between Lisbon and Basel, Switzerland, where she lives and works. After completing a degree in sculpture at the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Fine Arts, she developed an approach that combines sculpture, drawing, and installation. She completed a master’s degree at the Institut Art Gender Nature in Basel in 2025.
Born in Lisbon in 1993, Sara Graça works between the Portuguese capital and London. Her practice encompasses installation, sculpture, drawing, photography and film, questioning the idea of a fixed individual identity through themes of porosity and impermanence. From 2025 to 2026, she presented the solo exhibition “Boa Good Sorte Luck” at Culturgest in Lisbon. She was also selected for the UK’s New Contemporaries programme, exhibiting at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts in 2025.
Sofia Mascate, born in Abrantes in 1995, lives and works in Vienna, Austria. She completed a master’s degree in painting in Hamburg, Germany, in 2020, followed by another in critical studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 2024. Her recent solo exhibitions include “Frame Job” in Frankfurt, “Gilded Cage” in Vienna, and “Pick Me” in Cologne. In 2024, she won third in the Caixa Young Artists Competition and participated in the UmbigoLAB x ArtWorks residency.
The seventh finalist, Teresa Murta, was born in Portugal in 1993 and is based in Berlin, Germany. Her paintings combine natural and artificial elements to explore fantasy, absurdity and the poetic transformation of reality, creating unexpected alternative worlds. Her recent exhibitions include “85 Segundos Antes da Meia-Noite” in Lisbon and “Lucid Daydream – Panorama of Contemporary Portuguese Art” at Porto Municipal Gallery, in 2026 and 2025, respectively. She has also presented solo work in New York, Los Angeles, Bucharest and London.
Emerging talent
The €6,000 production grants will be funded through the proceeds of an auction held during the gala marking the EDP Foundation’s 20th anniversary.
This event featured works donated by Graça Morais, Pedro Cabrita Reis and Pedro Calapez, with all proceeds allocated in full to support the finalists.
Established in 2000, the EDP Foundation New Artists Prize takes place every two years and aims to recognise artists whose careers are still developing and who have yet to achieve widespread recognition.
It has no age limit and covers all forms of visual and fine art.
Portuguese artists can apply whether they live in Portugal or abroad, and foreign artists living in the country are also eligible.
Across its previous 15 editions, the prize has recognised a number of artists who have since built established careers, including Joana Vasconcelos, Leonor Antunes, Vasco Araújo, Carlos Bunga, João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva, João Leonardo, André Romão, Gabriel Abrantes, Priscila Fernandes, Ana Santos, Mariana Silva, Claire de Santa Coloma, Diana Policarpo, Adriana Proganó and Alice dos Reis.