By awarding the Rosa Schapire Art Prize, the Freunde der Kunsthalle advocates a luminous and unfettered interpretation of art. The prize shall honour an artist’s personality, whose piece of art qualifies as a valuable and vivid contribution to the collection of the traditional yet aspirational museum Hamburger Kunsthalle.
Is it possible for a single person to decide who shall be awarded with the €20,000 art prize? Yes it is. And it should be. Instead of being a majority decision, the Rosa Schapire Art Prize is intended to make a bold statement. For this purpose, the respective director of the Hamburger Kunsthalle shall annually invite a colleague or public person to serve as the judge. The presentation shall then take place in the setting of an award ceremony.
With more than 18.000 members, „Freunde der Kunsthalle“ is one of the most prominent friends’ associations in the German-speaking world. Since 1923, following the idea of the founder, director Gustav Pauli, the organisation works towards the following goals: conveying art to the general public and aiding the Kunsthalle in the acquisition of art as well as the funding 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.
The judge of the Rosa Schapire Art Prize shall be solely committed to the dauntless and passionate spirit of the eponymous art historian. Not an easy task, yet fascinating and honourable. Whom would Rosa choose? Whom would she support, award, highlight among the huge amount of superb artists?
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.
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.
