Gemma Ushengewe receives Shizuko Yoshikawa Award

Escape routes from the norm: Gemma Ushengewe (*1995) devotes herself to new narrative forms in which she deals with current issues such as surveillance and neo-colonialism in an experimental way. The Geneva-based artist has now received the Shizuko Yoshikawa Award from the Shizuko Yoshikawa and Josef Müller-Brockmann Foundation, endowed with 25,000 Swiss francs, for her work. The prize is awarded to graduates of Swiss art colleges who do not identify as cisgender men. The award ceremony will take place on November 27 at 5.30 pm at the Haute école d'art et de design (HEAD) in Geneva, where Ushengewe received her master's degree in 2023.

»Gemma Ushengewe's inquiries are complex and timely, highly political, but not subject to fleeting trends. Using time-based media such as film, video, and performance, Ushengewe addresses the issue of "Othering" – the process of making people "other" – as well as structural racism based on personal experiences. This is done without slipping into autobiographical narration«, said the five-member jury, whose members include Kathrin Bentele, Director of the Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, and the art historians Elisabeth Grossmann and Gabrielle Schaad. Furthermore, »the jury commends their bold exploration of invisibility in a world where visibility is often equated with success. This approach allows Ushengewe's work to defy conventional expectations within the art field.«

Sofía Durrieu, Monika Emmanuelle Kazi, Anita Muçolli and Margherita Raso were also nominated. The Shizuko Yoshikawa and Josef Müller-Brockmann Foundation, founded by the Japanese-Swiss artist in memory of her husband, the Swiss graphic designer, has set itself the goal of supporting young female, non-binary and transgender artists at the beginning of their artistic careers with the Shizuko Yoshikawa Award. It has been awarded every two years since 2018.