The PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv, Ukraine has announced Ashfika Rahman as the winner of the Future Generation Art Prize 2024. Rahman, who is thirty-five and based in Bangladesh, is the seventh winner of the biannual global art prize for artists under thirty-five. She receives a total of $100,000: $60,000 as a cash prize, and $40,000 to fund their artistic practice.
Rahman was recognised for her work examining the role of women in society, often working with local communities in Bangladesh to give voice to marginalised stories that have historically been silenced. She makes use of photograpy, alongside prints, text and sculpture, and engages with historical archives to examine how the past can be recontextualised through contemporary media.
‘This award feels particularly meaningful, especially given the global political climate we’re going through,’ Rahman said when accepting the award at the ceremony in Kyiv. ‘This award isn’t just a recognition of today—it holds lasting significance. The courage shown by those in Ukraine, who organised this event despite immense challenges, makes this award even more extraordinary. It’s a powerful moment for art and the world.’
Rahman was selected by a jury consisting of: curator Cecilia Alemani; Björn Geldhof, artistic director at the PinchukArtCentre; curator and writer Diane Lima; Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, director and chief curator of Haus der Kulturen der Welt; Alicia Knock, curator and head of the Contemporary Creation and Prospective Department at the Centre Pompidou; curator, lecturer and critic Simon Njami; and Hou Hanru, former Artistic Director of the MAXXI in Rome.
The jury reflected on Rahman’s work in a statement: ‘Echoing the history of the partitioning of the Indian subcontinent, and the resulting sociopolitical, religious, gender implications in the contemporary, her work is testament to a collective trauma, that is shared with the viewer but also transcended through the sublime yet humble and fragile aesthetics of the work. […] Rahman represents a future generation of artists that are committed to the ideals of community building and repair.’
An additional $20,000 was awarded to Special Prize winners Tara Abdullah Mohammed Sharif (Iraq), Bekhbaatar Enkhtur (Mongolia), Dina Mimi (Palestine), Hira Nabi (Pakistan), Ipeh Nur (Indonesia), Zhang Xu Zhan (Taiwan). The exhibition of the 21 shortlisted artists, selected from over 12,000 entries across almost 200 countries, is on show at the PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv until 19 January 2025.
