Possehl Prize for International Art 2025

Shilpa Gupta

The Indian artist Shilpa Gupta (*1976, Mumbai) has been awarded the Possehl Prize for International Art 2025, endowed with €25,000 and a solo exhibition in Lübeck. The award ceremony will take place at the same time as the exhibition opening on 27 September 2025 in the presence of the artist at the Kunsthalle St. Annen in Lübeck. The exhibition is curated by Noura Dirani, Director of Kunsthalle St. Annen. Shilpa Gupta is the third winner of the Possehl Prize for International Art after Doris Salcedo and Matt Mullican.

Exploring borders with the means of art

In her work as an artist, Shilpa Gupta deals with important issues for contemporary society such as belonging, safety, censorship, religion, freedom of expression and human rights. The jury honours the artist in particular for her sensitive and often political works as well as the wide range of media she uses in her practice. 

Shilpa Gupta's work is very diverse and includes sound works, video projections, drawings, sculptures, interactive computer-based installations and performances. For over two decades, she has been exploring the effects on societies of boundaries and demarcation lines by state actors - including social, geographical and psychological factors in addition to questions of national identity. Language and the power it encapsulates are an important focus of her artistic work. Due to its geographic position on the Baltic Sea, in the shadow of the former inner-German border, Lübeck is particularly familiar with the inclusion and exclusion created by boundaries with transnational connections. Shilpa Gupta's works make it possible to take another look at topics of global relevance in the light of local conditions. 

The artist lives and works in Mumbai, India, where she studied sculpture at the Sir J. J. School of Art from 1992 to 1997. Gupta's work is exhibited internationally and has been shown at the Tate Modern, the Serpentine Gallery in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, among others. Shilpa Gupta is one of the most important media artists on the Indian art scene and continues to influence several generations of artists to this day.

To KUNSTHALLE ST. ANNEN

Press relations

The latest press information about the Possehl Prize for International Art 2025 and the prizewinner Shilpa Gupta can be obtained from our partner on this project, the agency ARTPRESS:

ARTPRESS - Ute Weingarten
Alexandra Saheb
saheb.artpress@uteweingarten.de
+49 (0)30 48 49 63 50

Danziger Str. 2
10435 Berlin
Press material at www.artpress-uteweingarten.de

^{Picture credits}

^{1. Shilpa Gupta, I Live Under Your Sky Too, 2004 - ongoing, time-based light installation; 432 x 991 cm
© Shilpa Gupta, courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin, photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano}

^{2. Shilpa Gupta, For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit, 2017-2018; sound installation with 100 speakers, microphones, printed text and metal stands, overall dimensions variable
© Shilpa Gupta, commissioned by YARAT Contemporary Art Space and Edinburgh Art Festival, photo: Pat Verbruggen}

^{3. Shilpa Gupta, Singing Cloud, 2008-2009; object built with thousands of microphones with 48 multi channel audio, 457 x 61 x 152 cm, audio: 9:30 min, looped
© Shilpa Gupta, commissioned by Le Laboratoire, Paris, photo: Marc Domage}

^{4. Shilpa Gupta, StillTheyKnowNotWhatIDream, 2021; motion flapboards, 35 minutes, looped, 2 parts: 23 x 237 x 12.5 cm each
© Shilpa Gupta, courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe}

^{5. Shilpa Gupta, There is No Border Here, 2005-2006; wall drawing with self-adhesive tapes, 300 x 300 cm
© Shilpa Gupta}

^{6. Shilpa Gupta, 1:14.9 1188.5 miles of fenced border - West, North-West, Data Update: Dec 31, 2007, 2011-2012; hand wound thread ball, vitrine; 158 x 56 x 51 cm
© Shilpa Gupta, photo: Pat Verbruggen}

^{7. Shilpa Gupta, Untitled, 2008-09; MS Mobile Gate which swings side to side and breaks the walls; 290 x 230 cm
© Shilpa Gupta, courtesy the artist, Lyon Biennial '09 & Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana, photo: Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio}

^{8. Shilpa Gupta; © 54°/Felix Koenig}