IKOB – Museum of Contemporary Art has awarded an artist prize every three years since the institution’s beginnings. 2019 was the first time the award was given an explicitly feminist focus. With the 2025 edition of the Feminist Art Prize, we are proud to look back on the past two editions but would also be remiss not to note that the global situation regarding gender-based discrimination has only worsened.

We are facing a rampant wave of political revanchism and right-wing populism worldwide, forcing us to question the widespread assumption of linear and inevitable progress. A feminist art prize is therefore more important than ever. And there is no reason to hang our heads in defeat, because feminist art practices are resilient and future oriented. They offer alternatives and a safe haven for alternative way of living. We want to promote and strengthen these positions in contemporary art - especially those that confront us with the complexities of the body, identity and society and are not satisfied with simple answers. Utopia, eroticism, community, energy, resilience: together we want to embark on a journey in search of a better future.

Artists based in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, or Germany were invited to apply for the IKOB – Feminist Art Prize 2025. The following finalists were selected from almost 450 applications to present their work in the accompanying exhibition:

Catherina Cramer, Cordula Ditz, Magdalena Frauenberg, Bethan Hughes, Myrthe van der Mark, Bernice Nauta & G.C. Heemskerk, Herlinde Raeman, Lynne Gbodjrou Kouassi & Nora Heidorn, Sophie Schmidt, Sandra Singh, and Huize You.

The jury members of the IKOB – Feminist Art Prize 2025 were: Caitlin Hennen (independent art consultant and curator), Jemima Kulumba (curator and founder of the “Biennale of Women in Art”, Brussels), Noor Mertens (director, Bochum Art Museum), Stilbé Schroeder (curator, casino luxembourg and of the Luxembourg Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2026) and Marnie Slater (artist and winner of the IKOB – Feminist Art Prize 2022).

The prize winners were selected and announced by the jury on the day of the exhibition opening on 13th April 2025: