Setareh Shahbazi Awarded German Wi Di Mimba Wi Prize 2024
The EUR 30,000 working grant for artists of colour in Germany was awarded to Setareh Shahbazi, whose practice engages with reconstructed narratives.
Setareh Shahbazi, Spectral Days (#11) (2013) (detail). Series. C-print, framed. 85 x 60 cm. Courtesy the artist.
Tehran-born, Berlin-based artist Setareh Shahbazi was awarded the recent Wi Di Mimba Wi Prize, a EUR 30,000 working grant for artists of colour in Germany.
The award, which includes additional funds to support the creation of a new artwork, was established by German cultural foundation AKB Stiftung and Berlin-based art centre SAVVY Contemporary in 2021 to celebrate outstanding work.
Shahbazi studied Scenography and Media Arts in Karlsruhe and spent ten years working between Beirut, Tehran, Cairo, and Berlin. Through her practice, she offers reconstructed narratives provided by personal stories and forgotten items that she comes across.
Her works have been displayed in exhibitions in Iran, Lebanon, Germany, Italy, and France. Since 2020, she is also artistic co-director of KHF – Künstlerhof Frohnau, an artist-run studio village situated in woods on the periphery of Berlin.
'I am immensely grateful for this precious opportunity to work with the amazing team of SAVVY Contemporary and the many people that are needed to shift languages, perceptions and visibilities,' Shahbazi said.
The inaugural prize recipient in 2022 was Jean-Ulrick Désert. In 2023, he presented the solo exhibition CONSPICUOUS INVISIBILITY at SAVVY Contemporary, which travelled to Titatink Galerie in Turku, Finland.—[O]
