BERLIN.- The artist and curator Fareed Armaly was selected to receive the Käthe Kollwitz Prize 2025 by a jury consisting of Akademie members Ayşe Erkmen, Mona Hatoum, and Eran Schaerf.


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The Berlin-based artist declined the prize with the following statement: “I […] wish to express my deep respect for the institution of the Käthe Kollwitz prize, the Akademie der Künste, and the jury for awarding me this honor as a recognition of my work. There have been numerous periods during my productivity as an artist in Germany that I would have gladly accepted this honor. At this historical juncture, I am unable to align myself with any institution operating under the current cultural policy framework of the German government. To maintain my voice as an artist and speak meaningfully through your act of recognition, I must decline this award.” (Fareed Armaly in a letter to Akademie President Manos Tsangaris)

Akademie President Manos Tsangaris respects the artist's decision to decline the award. At the same time, the Presidium emphasizes that the Akademie der Künste, as an independent community of artists from Germany and abroad, speaks from the position of independent responsibility when advocating for the Arts and their role in society — this applies particularly to prizes awarded by the Akademie. The Akademie der Künste opposes all forms of censorship and self-censorship, including cancel culture, boycott calls, and political interference.

The Akademie der Künste has decided to suspend the awarding of the prize in 2025.

With this award, the Jury intended to honor a pioneer ‘avant la lettre’ of research-based art practice. Armaly creates an open concept of art as a constellation of different fields of research – history, archaeology, geography, architecture, design and language, which reduces complex subjectivities to hyphenated identities such as “Arab-American”. In his examination of the conditions for art production, Armaly explores not least the affective dimension of artistic practice in the context of institutional frameworks.

The Käthe Kollwitz Prize has been awarded annually since 1960 by the Akademie der Künste to visual artists from Germany and abroad. The prize, the exhibition and the accompanying publication have been co-financed for over 30 years by the Kreissparkasse Köln, sponsor of the Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne.



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