Rosa Schapire Art Prize 2024
The artist Lydia Ourahmane (*1992) will be awarded this year's Rosa Schapire Art Prize 2024 by the Freunde Kunsthalle e.V.. The prize will be presented on December 12, 2024 at a non-public event for invited guests. Ourahmane, who lives and works in London, Algiers and Barcelona, will receive 20,000 euros and one of the most important awards for contemporary artists in Germany. Her installations, videos, sculptures and sound works create situations and structures that transcend the boundaries of the institution. She explores themes such as displacement and community and examines how the movements of people and objects are influenced by factors such as state restrictions and invisible barriers.
Lydia Ourahmane was born in Saïda (Algeria) in 1992. At the age of nine, she emigrated with her family to the UK, where she studied at Goldsmiths College, University of London (2011-2014). She currently lives and works in London, Algiers and Barcelona. Her installations, videos, sculptures, and sound works create situations and structures that have consequences beyond the walls of the institution. Exploring themes of displacement and community, her work revises how the movement of objects and people are influenced by factors such as state restrictions and invisible barriers. Ourahmane is currently represented at the 60th Venice Biennale (2024) and has previously exhibited at the 34th São Paulo Biennial (2021), Manifesta 12 in Palermo (2018) and the 15th Istanbul Biennial (2017). Her recent solo exhibitions include: 108 Days at MACBA, Barcelona (2024), sync, KW Institute of Contemporary Art, Berlin (2022); Survival in the Afterlife, Portikus, Frankfurt, (2021-22); Barzakh, Kunsthalle Basel, (2021) and others.
YASMIL RAYMOND (b. 1977) is an independent curator currently based in Frankfurt a. M. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Master of Arts from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College. From 2020 to 2024, she was Director of Portikus and Rector of the Städelschule in Frankfurt. Raymond has held curatorial positions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Dia Art Foundation in New York and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. She recently co-curated the exhibition Rirkrit Tiravanija: Happiness is Not Always Fun, which opened at the Gropius Bau in Berlin on September 12, 2024. Since July 2024, she has been a member of the new selection committee for Documenta 16.
The Rosa Schapire Art Prize for a remarkable contemporary artist is awarded in memory of the extraordinary art historian Rosa Schapire (1874-1954) by the Freunde der Kunsthalle e. V. (Friends of the Kunsthalle). With over 20,000 members, the association is one of the largest in the German-speaking world. With donations amounting to over 600,000 euros, the Friends supported the museum this year (2024) with the acquisition of works of art and, in particular, with the financing of exhibitions.
Rosa Schapire (1874-1954) was recognized by the people of her time as a grand pioneer in the field of contemporary modern art. Full of enthusiasm and zest for action, this extraordinary art historian fought for the abolishment of traditional perceptions of art. She was a friend, a supporter and an advocate. In her time, her commitment without backing was extremely courageous.