Prix de la route Mandarine 2026
Call for Applications
Support for the Young Vietnamese Art Scene
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On the occasion of the centenary of the École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine, Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, expert, launched in January 2025 in Hanoi a Prize dedicated to supporting and encouraging artistic creativity in Vietnam. At the beginning of September, she announced the call for applications for this competition, named the ‘Prix de la route Mandarine‘, which each year will aim to spotlight two Vietnamese students on the international art market.
“Today, this Prize, open to Vietnamese students regardless of their city of origin, offers the two winners the opportunity to take a first step into the international art market through a trip to Paris for an exhibition. The Mandarine Road Prize invites every young Vietnamese to set out on their journey and to surpass themselves artistically.”
– Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, President of the Association of Asian Artists in Paris
Since 2014, Aguttes has shed remarkable light on the work of painters who, in the early 20th century, received a dual Asian and Western education. It was in the amphitheater of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi that Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, also President of the Association of Asian Artists in Paris, announced on January 7, 2025, her project to create a Prize to support contemporary Vietnamese creativity. Beneath the large restored mural after Victor Tardieu, the first director of the École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine, she presented this project, which is now taking shape with a call for applications.
The date of January 7, 2026, in Hanoi is currently ideally envisioned for the jury to announce the names of the two finalists and present them with the ‘Prix de la route Mandarine’.
Le Prix de la route Mandarine : An Immersion into the International Art Market
This Prize is open to any student of the visual arts enrolled in an art school in Vietnam in September 2025 for the 2025–2026 academic year, and is intended to give them a first step onto the international art market. This initiative offers the two laureates the opportunity to each exhibit their awarded work in France, in Neuilly-sur-Seine (Paris). The exhibition will be held in early April, coinciding with one of the two annual moments when Paris celebrates contemporary creation.
With airfare provided, the two winners will be able to attend the opening of the exhibition of their work in Paris. They will also benefit from a program of artistic activities, including meetings with market professionals, visits to museums, and access to must-see events such as current Parisian exhibitions and fairs. In addition, they will receive a grant of €1,000 to support their stay.
Registration is closed
We invite you to review the participation guidelines by downloading the application form and the Prize regulations.
The Jury of the 2026 Mandarine Road Prize
Among the jury members are:
- Nicola Baudo, great-grandson of Victor Tardieu (first director of the School, between 1925-1937), the eldest son of Alix Turolla-Tardieu.
- The descendants of Évariste Jonchère (second director of the School, 1938 – 1945), represented by Arnaud Fontani and Florence Fontani-Veron, his great-nephew and great-niece.
- Hàn Ngọc Vũ, Vietnamese collector.
- Hà Mạnh Thắng, contemporary Vietnamese artist.
- Lê Huy Tiếp, contemporary Vietnamese artist.
- Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, President of the Association of Asian Artists in Paris (AAP).
Key Dates
Application deadline: November 7, 2025, at midnight, by email to: routemandarine@aap.art
Submission of works by the candidates: December 30, 2025
Jury deliberation: January 2026 in Hanoi (preferred date)
Exhibition in Paris: April 2026
The Mandarin Road?
It was on the Mandarin Road in Hanoi that the École des beaux-arts was established in 1925 for its first academic year.
Although the road has changed names several times, its route dates back to antiquity. Today, it is known as Quốc lộ 1, or National Highway 1A. It is the historic road that runs through Vietnam from north to south, connecting Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City via Huế, Da Nang, Nha Trang, and other cities, extending for more than 2,300 km.
As early as the medieval dynasties, this main thoroughfare connected the imperial capital, Thang Long (present-day Hanoi), and later Huế, to the southern provinces. At the time known as Đường Cái Quan, meaning the “Great Mandarins’ Road,” it took its name from the many mandarins responsible for imperial administration who travelled along it for centuries. Civil servants and scholars used this route to visit even the most remote villages.
From 1925 onwards, based in the School’s workshops at 121 Mandarin Road, the first students received an outstanding multicultural education designed to enable them to contribute to the renewal of Vietnamese Modern Art.
The First Edition of the Prix de la Route Mandarine