Jury selects award winners
Prizes in the categories of visual arts and art education / A total of 97 entries were submitted to the competition
The Jury of the Hans and Lea Grundig Award has selected three winners in the categories of visual arts and art education. The committee met on 26 and 27 May 2025 at the Max-Lingner-Haus in Berlin. After an intensive selection process from a total of 97 submissions and constructive discussions, the eight judges, led by co-chairs Dorothea Schöne and Klaus Lederer, honoured the following artists:
In the Visual Arts category, the prize goes to Cana Bilir-Meier for her sculpture in public space „Zurückschauen. Voices that remain“ and to Ksenia Galiaeva for her multimedia work „Unreal estate“. Bilir-Meier’s work grew out of conversations with victims of right-wing violence in North Rhine-Westphalia and was inspired by an argentinian artists‘ collective’s examination of the military dictatorship there from 1976 to 1983. Galiaeva describes her work, which consists of a book, audio book and video installation, as ‘autobiographical fiction’. She was born in the Soviet Union in 1976 and has lived in Belgium and the Netherlands for 30 years.
In the Art education category, Henryk Gericke was honoured for his project „Tapetopia“, a series of music cassettes and records dedicated to underground music such as punk, post-punk and avant-garde in the GDR in the 1980s. Gericke was born in 1964 in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, where he still lives today.
In the Art history category, the project „Cambodian exiled artists in East Germany“ by Sarnt Utamachote will receive an offer for an in-depth research project in 2026 due to its connection to Lea Grundig.
An honourable mention goes to the art education project „ArtISIa“ by the Initiative Selbständiger Immigrantinnen (ISI e. V.), represented by Cristina Cipolletta.
The award ceremony is planned for 2 December 2025 in Berlin.