The Johannes Vermeer Award 2026 has been assigned to poet and performer Babs Gons.
The jury, chaired by Dagmar Oudshoorn, unanimously nominated her for the award. Gons receives the award for her pioneering, multidisciplinary practice, in which she brings together poetry, spoken word, performance and social engagement to create a genre entirely her own, using language of great expressive power to enrich both the personal and public realms.
The prestigious Dutch State Award for the Arts, established by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in 2008, will be presented on Monday, 23 November 2026 at the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague by Rianne Letschert, the minister of Education, Culture and Science.
Former recipients
Former recipients of the award include choreographer and dance theatre director Marco Gerris, Marit Törnqvist, writer Arnon Grunberg, visual artist Natasja Kensmil, opera director Pierre Audi, filmmaker and writer Alex van Warmerdam, photographer Erwin Olaf, visual artist Marlene Dumas, architect Rem Koolhaas, graphic designer Irma Boom, composer and director Michel van der Aa, visual artist and film director Steve McQueen, fashion designer Iris van Herpen, violinist Janine Jansen, theater maker Ivo van Hove and photographer Rineke Dijkstra.