Brognon Rollin Wins the 2026 Marcel Duchamp Prize
Brognon Rollin has won the 2026 Marcel Duchamp Prize for an installation built around sobriety tokens, small objects marking time spent sober and milestones that cannot capture the full human effort behind them.
- The Paris and Luxembourg-based duo won the prize on October 22.
- The installation brings together tokens marking periods of sobriety.
- The shortlisted artists’ exhibition runs through February 7, 2027.
- Published accounts give conflicting figures for the prize money.
The award was announced at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris. David Brognon, born in Belgium in 1978, and Stéphanie Rollin, born in Luxembourg in 1980, have worked together since 2006. They met at Mudam.
The winning installation is titled 5, 376 Years, 1, 892 Months, 1, 110 Days, 1, 201 Hours. According to Artforum’s report on Brognon Rollin’s win, the artists assembled tokens from abstinence groups, each representing how long one person had been sober. The title tallies the time represented by the tokens in four different units. Available descriptions do not explain exactly how the figures were calculated.
Artforum says the tokens are arranged to suggest arcade games. They make otherwise abstract spans of time visible, but cannot show everything those spans contain: the effort, setbacks, and private decisions behind each sobriety milestone.
Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris director Fabrice Hergott described the work as materializing “the time of waiting, of addiction, and of intimate resistance.” That is one institutional reading of the installation. Its quiet power also comes from the contrast between a token’s simple record and the complexity of the life it represents.
More than found objects
The installation invites comparison with the readymade, a practice associated with Marcel Duchamp in which an existing object is selected and presented as art. A change of context can change how an object is understood. Here, though, the tokens are more than everyday objects placed in a gallery. They are tied to people’s lived experiences and personal milestones.
That human focus runs through much of Brognon Rollin’s work. Artforum describes the duo’s practice as engaging with marginalized populations and systems of control through video, sound installation, and conceptual art. Their prize-winning work turns that interest toward a measure of time that is deeply personal and hard to make visible.
Brognon Rollin was selected from a shortlist that also included Joël Andrianomearisoa, Laura Henno, and Josèfa Ntjam. Curated by Odile Burluraux and Nicolas Liucci-Goutnikov, the exhibition is scheduled to remain at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris through February 7, 2027.
ADIAF, the Association pour la diffusion internationale de l’art français, established the prize in 2000. Artforum reports that the Centre Pompidou, the prize’s usual exhibition venue, is closed for renovations through 2030. The Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris is hosting the current exhibition instead.
Prize-money figures do not match
Published accounts differ on the award’s value. Artprice’s press release lists a total endowment of €90, 000, including €35, 000 for the winner. Artforum reports that Brognon Rollin will receive €30, 000, with €10, 000 going to each of the other three shortlisted artists. The available information does not explain the difference.
Key questions and answers
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Who won the 2026 Marcel Duchamp Prize?
Brognon Rollin, the artistic duo of David Brognon and Stéphanie Rollin.
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What do the installation’s figures represent?
They show the accumulated time represented by sobriety tokens, expressed in years, months, days, and hours. Available descriptions do not detail how each figure was calculated.
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Who else was shortlisted?
Joël Andrianomearisoa, Laura Henno, and Josèfa Ntjam.
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How much does the winner receive?
Published figures conflict: Artprice reports €35, 000, while Artforum reports €30, 000. The discrepancy remains unresolved.
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Where can visitors see the exhibition?
At the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris through February 7, 2027.
