The Martine Aublet Foundation has revealed the four finalists for its 2026 literary prize, which focuses on non-Western cultures and civilizations. The award, worth 10,000 euros, will be given on October 5 at the quai Branly - Jacques Chirac museum. Established in 2012 in partnership with the same museum, the prize annually honors non-fiction works—such as essays, documentaries, or biographies—that explore non-Western cultures and civilizations. Key areas include ethnography, anthropology, and art history. The winning book, written or translated into French, may be authored by a young scholar or a well-known academic. For 2026, four books have made the final shortlist. Bruno-Nassim Aboudrar is nominated for Occidentalismes. Peindre à l'européenne dans le monde (XVIe-XXe siècle), published by Flammarion. As an art historian, Aboudrar flips the conventional view of artistic exchange: instead of examining how Europe absorbed non-Western art, he looks at how artists from the Americas, China, Japan, or the Middle East adopted European painting techniques—like perspective and chiaroscuro—to adapt or even challenge them. Philippe Dagen is also in the running with Primitivismes III. Crises et mutations, published by Gallimard. This third volume completes his trilogy on primitivism. It covers the period from World War II to the 1980s and explores how references to non-Western cultures persisted in American abstract expressionism, the CoBrA movement, and museum practices. Cécile Fromont is another finalist with Kongo et Angola, 1650-1750. Une rencontre en images, translated from English by Frédéric Joly and published by CNRS Éditions. Drawing on rare illustrated manuscripts created by Capuchin missionaries, Fromont traces the intellectual, religious, and artistic exchanges between Europeans and the people of the Congo and Angola during the 17th and 18th centuries. Gildas Salmon is competing with L'Empire de la supervision. Capture des savoirs et gouvernement colonial dans l'Inde britannique, published by La Découverte. The researcher demonstrates how the East India Company managed to govern a vast territory by relying on the knowledge and skills of the local population. His work presents British India as a testing ground for new methods of distant governance. The jury, led by Xavier Darcos, chancellor of the French Institute, includes notable figures such as Bruno Roger, president of the Martine Aublet Foundation, Emmanuel Kasarhérou, president of the quai Branly - Jacques Chirac museum, and others. Alina Gurdiel oversees the prize. The 2026 winner will be announced during a ceremony at the quai Branly - Jacques Chirac museum on October 5. Last year, the prize was awarded to Antoine Lilti for L'illusion d'un monde commun. Tahiti et la découverte de l'Europe, published by Flammarion. As a historian and professor at the Collège de France, Lilti also reversed a common narrative: instead of focusing on how Europeans discovered Tahiti in the 18th century, he explored how Polynesians who traveled with explorers discovered Europe and other parts of the world in return.