At the end of each season of Kunstpodium T’s Apprentice / Master program, the top groups get one more opportunity to exhibit at Kunstpodium T’s art space — this time without their Master. We call this exhibition The Season Highlights. One group takes home the coveted Jan Naaijkens Prize: an opportunity for further artistic development beyond the walls of Kunstpodium T.
The winner is....
Until 8 November, the top emerging artists from the 2025–2026 Apprentice / Master season are exhibiting at Kunstpodium T. During the festive opening on Thursday 15 October, one group received the 2026 Jan Naaijkens Prize! The moment we’ve all been waiting for… We’re delighted to congratulate Anna Musikhina, Tair Uria, Junying Wu and Mikołaj Stojanowicz on winning the prize with their exhibition The Floor is Lava: and there are gaps in between!
Photo by Margo van de Pas
About the Jan Naaijkensprijs
The Jan Naaijkens Prize was established by the Noordbrabants Genootschap and has been awarded annually since 1982. Since 2014, the prize has been connected to our Apprentice / Master programme. This year, the prize is made possible in part by Het Albert Van Abbehuis in Eindhoven.
This year’s jury consisted of
Julia Fidder (Curator and co-founder of Text My Sister)
Fang Mij (Artist)
Sjors Bindels (Curator at Museum van Bommel van Dam)
The Floor is Lava: and there are gaps in between
Here are the jury’s words of praise: “The exhibition feels like a story, in which each artwork enters into an interesting dialogue with the others in the space, creating a harmonious whole. The artistic and poetic qualities show great promise for further development. The idea of ‘carriers’ offers a starting point that invites further reflection. The concept of ‘invisible networks’, along with the spirits of previous encounters, provides ample ground for the group to present their work together once again. In doing so, we hope that the unseen, the negative spaces and an ongoing reflection on the architectural and relational context will remain central. We look forward to seeing what happens when you dare to position yourselves as a group within a clearly defined framework. Seek each other out, remain open to one another, and continue to prioritise your individual artistic development, as you have done over the past year.”
The group won an exhibition at Het Van Abbehuis in Eindhoven and a professional development session with Kunstloc Brabant.
The Season Highlights exhibition is on view until 8 November. Come by and discover the emerging artistic talent of today!
