Prix Viviane Esders 2025
Image: Dörte Eißfeldt, Haut (Skin), 1989, silver print on baryta paper, 61 x 51 cm.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Dörte Eißfeldt
Prix Viviane Esders
German photographer Dörte Eißfeldt is the winner of the Prix Viviane Esders 2025, dedicated to photographers aged 60 and over. Dörte Eißfeldt has been exploring the creative and conceptual potential of photography as art since the late 1970s. Eißfeldt presents excerpts from the visible world as we may have never considered them before: the human face or body, or the effects of light, shadow and time on the physical conditions of things. At the same time, the materiality of different papers, textures and printing techniques, as well as the display of the images on the wall or in a space, play a decisive role.
2026 Preis der Nationalgalerie
Image: Installation view of Maurizio Cattelan's work, Not Afraid of Love (2000), in the exhibition Dimanche Sans Fin. Maurizio Cattelan et la collection du Centre Pompidou, Centre Pompidou Metz, 2025. Photo: Louis Canadas for Art Basel.
ART
Maurizio Cattelan
Preis der Nationalgalerie
The 2026 Preis der Nationalgalerie was awarded to Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. The prize honours one of the most influential contemporary artists, who will be represented in Germany for the first time with a solo exhibition. His works, which range from sculpture and installation to conceptual practice, are characterised by sharp humour, bitter seriousness and a profound reflection on social structures. The exhibition accompanying the Preis der Nationalgalerie will open at the Neue Nationalgalerie during Berlin Art Week in September 2026.
About the Preis der Nationalgalerie
RIBA Middle East Awards 2025
Image: Hopkins Architects, Buhais Geology Park Interpretive Centre, Al-Madam Plain, UAE.
Photo: Felix von Schwanewede.
ARCHITECTURE
RIBA Middle East Awards
The first winners of the RIBA Middle East Awards have been announced. As part of the expansion of the UK institution's International Awards, the organization is now highlighting two new territories: the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Nine buildings share the 2025 RIBA Middle East Awards top spot, while the Asia Pacific winners will follow in a few weeks. The Middle East winners range from the world’s first purpose-built women-only mosque in Qatar, to the world’s largest city park, in Riyadh.
About the RIBA Middle East Awards
Prix Nadar Gens d’images 2025
Image: © Simon Vansteenwinckel
PHOTOGRAPHY
Aux Ombres by Simon Vansteenwinckel
Prix Nadar Gens d’images
The Prix Nadar Gens d’images 2025 was awarded to Aux Ombres by Simon Vansteenwinckel, published by lamaindonne. Every December in North and South Dakota, members of the Lakota (Sioux) tribes gather to travel 450 km on horseback over 15 days, in temperatures that can drop to -20°C. They follow in the footsteps of Chief Big Foot's tribe, whose 300 members, mainly women and children, were massacred at Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890. For two weeks, the elders take care of the young people, taking them out of their daily lives, teaching them to ride horses and be kind to others, but also introducing them to the soul and history of their nation.
About the Prix Nadar Gens d’images
2025 CFDA Fashion Awards
Image: Ralph Lauren, Spring 2026 Ready-to-Wear Collection.
FASHION
Ralph Lauren
American Womenswear Designer of the Year
Ralph Lauren was awarded the CFDA American Womenswear Designer of the Year Award. Lauren competed against designers Wes Gordon for Carolina Herrera, Rachel Scott for Diotima, Daniella Kallmeyer for Kallmeyer, and Tory Burch. Ralph Lauren previously won the CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year Award in 1995.
Image: Thom Browne, Spring 2026 Ready-to-Wear Collection.
FASHION
Thom Browne
American Menswear Designer of the Year
American Menswear Designer of the Year went to Thom Browne. Browne competed against Mike Amiri for Amiri, Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta for Eckhaus Latta, the Olsens for the Row, and Willy Chavarria. Browne, who is chairman of the CFDA, has won the CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year Award three times — in 2006, 2013 and 2016. For the American Accessory of the Year, Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row bested Ana Khouri, Catherine Holstein for Khaite, Raul Lopez for Luar, and Tory Burch.
2025 Tung Chung Prize
Image: Tehching Hsieh, One Year Performance 1978–1979 (Cage Piece), 1978–79. Tehching Hsieh: Lifeworks 1978–1999, installation view, Dia Beacon, New York, 2025–27. © Tehching Hsieh. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio, New York, courtesy Dia Art Foundation.
ART
Tehching Hsieh
Tung Chung Prize
The Taiwan-based Hong Foundation has recognised artist Tehching Hsieh with the 2025 Tung Chung Prize Special Achievement Award, coinciding with his current survey exhibition at New York’s Dia Beacon. Tehching Hsieh: Lifeworks 1978-1999 is the artist’s first comprehensive retrospective, showcasing his five One Year Performances and the radical 13-year project Tehching Hsieh 1986-1999, durational works that collapsed the boundaries between art and life. The exhibition marks a landmark moment for Hsieh, who emigrated to New York from Taiwan in 1974 as a migrant worker, and pursue his artistic career.
2025 Wessel & Vett Fashion Prize
Image: Nicklas Skovgaard, Copenhagen Spring 2026 Collection.
FASHION
Nicklas Skovgaard
Wessel & Vett Fashion Prize
Recognized for his embodiment of contemporary Danish fashion, Nicklas Skovgaard, founder of his eponymous brand, is the winner of the 2025 Wessel & Vett Fashion Prize. The designer seeks to evoke emotions through a creative process that begins with the fabric. Ultimately thinking of his collections as living stories, each season builds on the previous ones. Nicklas Skovgaard's most recent collection explores the theme of the bedroom – private, in-between space where we move from sleep to wakefulness, from our public persona to our intimate self. The designer sought to capture this feeling of softness, vulnerability and transformation through sculptural yet wearable pieces.
About the Wessel & Vett Fashion Prize
Dezeen Awards China 2025
Image: Benwu Studio, Ganjiang Table and Moye Chair . © Benwu Studio
DESIGN
Benwu Studio
Designer of the year
New York City-based design studio Benwu Studio won Designer of the year at Dezeen Awards China 2025. Benwu Studio was founded in New York City in 2012 by Chinese designers Hongchao Wang and Pengyou. It is a multi-disciplinary design practice with experience in product, interior and set design. Recent projects include Atrium Lighting Series and Takara Standard × TAKUMIKOU | Xiyingmen Flagship Store.
Image: Baicai Design, Fatface Coffee Store, Shenyang, China. Photo: Topia Vision.
DESIGN
Baicai Design
Rising Star of the year
Shenyang-based design studio Baicai Design was named Rising Star of the year. Founded by Kaiwen Zhao in 2020, Baicai Design offers design services encompassing interior remodeling, spatial creation, exhibitions, branding and more. Design is the spark of thought; art is the thought that sparks. Where they converge lies the science of problem-solving. Good or bad, beautiful or ugly–these are subjective. Yet by creating functional solutions and imbuing spaces with meaning, Baicai Design strives to achieve what's envisioned. Recent projects include Wuxing Miaoyou in Yangzhou and Fatface Coffee Store in Shenyang.
