Presenting the 2025 Recanati-Kaplan Prize Laureate: Khaled Alwarea
Image courtesy of Khaled Alwarea
Discover the architect and multidisciplinary artist, who will embark upon a two-month residency with Villa Albertine in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
The Recanati-Kaplan Prize, jointly supported by Villa Albertine, the Recanati-Kaplan Foundation, and the Arab World Institute, promotes intercultural exchange between the Arab world, Europe, and the United States. Each year, the prize is awarded to an artist, culture practitioner, or researcher from the Arab world leading an original research project in the field of arts and ideas that requires an immersive stay in the United States. Through this initiative, the Prize celebrates exceptional artistic and intellectual profiles that enrich intercultural dialogue through contemporary creation.
The recipient is awarded a two-month Villa Albertine exploratory and research residency in the US, along with a $15,000 grant.
The 2025 Laureate: Khaled Alwarea
Following deliberation by the selection jury, the 2025 Recanati-Kaplan Prize has been awarded to Khaled Alwarea.
A graduate in architecture from the University of Damascus, Khaled Alwarea has since developed a multidisciplinary artistic practice. Among his standout works is Panic Attack, a short film screened at over 20 international festivals. His creations delve into marginalized spaces, turning art into a powerful act of resistance. Through immersive installations, striking video creations, and participatory performances, Khaled Alwarea brings silenced narratives to light, exploring themes of resilience and collective memory.
“By supporting Khaled Alwarea, we make the statement that art can illuminate what history has sometimes sought to erase: the strength of marginalized voices and the beauty of memories in resistance,” said Thomas S. Kaplan, patron of the Recanati-Kaplan Prize.
For his residency project, Khaled Alwarea will travel to New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles to gather testimonies, videos, photographs, and audio recordings. These materials will form a multilingual digital archive, a living memory of the Syrian diaspora shaped by resilience and exile. This body of stories will culminate in an immersive installation inviting audiences to step into fragmented, reassembled, and reimagined narratives, contributing to the creation of a more inclusive collective memory.
“Khaled Alwarea’s residency project stands as an act of transmission and transformation. It embodies a vision of art that inspires, unites, and sheds light on pressing issues of our time,” said Mohamed Bouabdallah, Cultural Counselor of France in the United States and Director of Villa Albertine.
In addition to his artistic work, Khaled Alwarea will lead workshops and public programs in collaboration with local universities, community centers, and museums—organizations committed to amplifying marginalized voices and histories. His project offers rich artistic expression and will bridge cultures, identities, and generations.
In partnership with
Recanati-Kaplan Foundation
Created in 2010 by Thomas S. Kaplan and Daphne Recanati-Kaplan, the Recanati-Kaplan Foundation supports the development of initiatives of excellence in four areas: the protection of our biodiversity; research in medical sciences; the teaching of history and philosophy; and cultural, artistic, and intellectual bridge-building between the Arab world, France and the United States.
Institut du monde arabe
The Institut du monde arabe was founded in 1980 by France and the League of Arab States to promote and highlight Arab culture in all its forms. Housed in a building designed by the eminent architect Jean Nouvel and Architecturestudio, this genuine hub of encounters and exchanges opened its doors in 1987. For the past 35 years, the Institut du monde arabe has continued to strengthen cultural, political, economic, and social connections between France and the Arab world.