FOCUNA Announces €15k Francis-André Grant for Nina Tomàs Project

On Tuesday 8 September 2026, Luxembourg's National Culture Fund (FOCUNA) reported that artist Nina Tomàs had been selected to receive the €15,000 Francis-André Grant to support her project Murmures, which she will develop over the next two years.

According to the fund, Murmures continues Nina Tomàs' multidisciplinary artistic approach centred on textiles and media that go beyond their traditional uses, with drawing interacting with volume and painting with installation, while incorporating recovered or embroidered elements. FOCUNA described the relationship with the exhibition space as “central” to her work and noted that, through successive residencies and exhibitions, her practice has expanded to new media while retaining a meticulous, craft-based approach.

The project also places increasing emphasis on narrative. It marks a new stage in this research through the integration of sound as a means of linking the works. Voice, breath and testimony will be introduced within the space or through headphones, adding a further layer of interpretation. The project will also include a series of narratives published in hand-sewn bound editions and integrated into the overall installation.

The jury was composed of artist Jean Bechameil, Nathalie Becker of Galerie Schlassgoart, independent curator Clément Minighetti, 2025 laureate Mike Bourscheid and two representatives of the Francis-André Foundation.

FOCUNA noted that the jury praised the “richness and diversity” of the approach, as well as its “meditative and sensitive dimension”, in which the body, perception and inner experience play an important role. It also highlighted the ambition of the scenographic project and the relevance of opening the work to sound as a new field of experimentation, considering this research phase an essential step in the development of the project and the artist's work.