Review
“Fareed Armaly, an artist of Lebanese-Palestinian heritage born in the US, has declined the 2025 Käthe Kollwitz Prize, a German art award. Armaly, who has worked both in the US and Germany, rejected the honor in protest against the German government’s suppression of opposition to Israel’s Gaza genocide and the overall “silencing [of] advocates for Palestinian rights under international law.”
The award is named for the left-wing German artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945). It is handed out by the Academy of Arts, Berlin, a government arts institution. The prestigious prize is awarded annually by a jury whose members are chosen anew each year to a visual artist living and working in Germany, honored either for a single work or his or her entire body of work.
The prize has been given out since 1960 and was most recently endowed with €12,000 ($12,400). Among the recent recipients have been Candida Höfer, Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, Nan Goldin, Maria Eichhorn and Timm Ulrichs.
Armaly is an inter-disciplinary artist whose work includes the production of video, soundworks, architectural interventions, design, sculpture and large-scale installations.”
(Excerpt)