shortlist 2025

Chiara bersani (it)

Chiara Bersani is an Italian performer and choreographer. Her research is based on the concept of the “Political Body” a body that shapes its meanings in interaction with society’s narratives. Her "manifesto" work of this research is Gentle Unicorn, a performance included in the Aerowaves circuit. Her new creation, Sottobosco (undergrowth) explores the relationship between disabled bodies and natural landscapes.

In 2018 she won the Ubu Award as best performer under 35.

Chiara Bersani is an artist of apap – Advancing Performing arts project – Feminist Future, a project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, until 2024.

As an activist Chiara works on the accessibility of disabled artists in the performing arts scene.

WWW: www.chiarabersani.it/en/performer
Instagram: chiara_bersan

harold offeh (Uk)

Harold Offeh is an artist working in a range of media including performance, video, photography, learning and social arts practice. Offeh is interested in the space created by the inhabiting or embodying of histories. He employs humour as a means to confront the viewer with historical narratives and contemporary culture.

He has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally including for example Tate Britain and Tate Modern, South London Gallery, Studio Museum Harlem, New York, MAC VAL, France, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Denmark and Art Tower Mito.

He studied Critical Fine Art Practice at The University of Brighton, MA Fine Art Photography at the Royal College of Art and recently completed a PhD by practice exploring the activation of Black Album covers through durational performance. He lives in Cambridge and works in London, UK. He is currently a tutor in MA Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art.

WWW: haroldoffeh.com
Instagram: harold_offeh

sj norman (au)

SJ Norman (b. 1984) is an artist and writer. His practice is counter-disciplinary and formally promiscuous. His body of work to date has included more than 20 works of performance, 1 full length work of fiction, and a significant body of other experimental work spanning sculpture, installation, photography, textiles, drawing and sound.

His awards for art include: the 67th Blake Prize, a 2018 Sidney Myer Fellowship and a 2019 Australia Council Fellowship. Recent exhibitions include the 22nd Biennale of Sydney and the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial. His acquisition history includes major public collections, such as the National Gallery of Australia.

His first book, Permafrost (UQP, 2020) was shortlisted for 7 major literary prizes in Australia, including the Australian Society for Literature Gold Medal and the Stella Prize, and won the fiction category in the 2024 South Australian Premier’s Prize. His other awards for literature include: the 2017 Kill Your Darlings Prize, the 2022 Peter Blazey Prize for Non-Fiction, and numerous placements in the Judith Wright Prize for Poetry.

He is a Wiradjuri Brotherboy (Trans Man) born on Gadigal country, to an Aboriginal mother and a British father. He currently lives and works in Lenapehoking/New York City.

WWW: sjnorman.net
Instagram: vitreous_lustre