We congratulate alumna Sandra Mujinga for winning the Preis der Nationalgalerie 2021

Jury’s statement:
Sandra Mujinga works across a variety of media, with her presentation at Hamburger Bahnhof placing a focus on her sculptural practice. On the one hand, the works display a great sensibility for craft and materiality. Yet, with them, Mujinga is also able to reconcile contradictory experiences: ostensibly familiar forms disappear before we are able to grasp them, her spectral figures appear ominous, but also seem to offer their protection; although static, they exhibit an inherent dynamism: and they are both finished, but also seemingly in a state of becoming. Her negotiation of these contradictions opens up a space for imagination on the part of the viewer. The topics addressed by her works resonate greatly with the present moment, while also seeming to come from a future already passed. They remind us to be considerate of other living beings for the sake of our own survival, and that we can observe and learn from their various strategies of adapting to an ever-changing world.
Jury: Emre Baykal (Chief Curator, Arter, Istanbul), Sven Beckstette (Curator, Hamburger Bahnhof), Gabriele Knapstein (Head of Hamburger Bahnhof), Emma Lavigne (President, Palais de Tokyo, Paris), and Yesomi Umolu (Director of Curatorial Affairs and Public Practice, Serpentine, London)
Preis der Nationalgalerie
Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
16. 09. 2021 — 27. 02. 2022
 
https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/hamburger-bahnhof/home/