Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig

In collaboration with the Förderer des Museums der bildenden Künste Leipzig e. V., the MdbK is awarding a new prize for young artists in Central Germany for the first time this year. In doing so, the association and the museum aim to support emerging artists in the region. The prize will be awarded every two years from now on. For the initial award, a jury has selected four artistic positions from more than 160 submissions, which will engage in dialogue with one another in a group exhibition:

FRANZI GORALSKI (FG)
Franzi Goralski (b. 1992, Radebeul) completed a degree in Fine Art at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (HfBK) in 2017 and subsequently obtained a Master’s degree from the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam. Goralski’s artistic practice is collective, process-oriented and transdisciplinary. FG is interested in alternative forms of living and learning and creates spaces for marginalised perspectives beyond capitalist logic. Together with Adam Erdmann, Goralski works as part of the duo die Blaue Distanz. FG is rooted in the queer and feminist community and lives and works in Dresden.

MASHID MAHBOUBIFAR 
Mahshid Mahboubifar (b. 1991, Jahrom, Iran) is an artist and filmmaker from Iran. In her work with moving and still images, she reflects on her connection to her immediate surroundings, her research – often conducted through interviews – and her subjective perception. Through the reconstruction of archive material, she explores how narratives are constructed and preserved. Mahboubifar completed her diploma in Expanded Cinema at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig in 2025. She lives and works in Leipzig and Berlin.

ANNA PEREPECHAI
Anna Perepechai (b. 1989, Poltava, Ukraine) grew up in the Chernihiv region (Ukraine). She studied journalism in Kyiv, visual communication in Weimar, photography in Montreal, and is currently completing her diploma in this subject at the HGB Leipzig. Her work combines documentary and experimental approaches, addressing socio-political transformations, collective memory and traumatic experiences, particularly in formerly Soviet societies. Anna Perepechai lives and works in Leipzig.

THERESA ROTHE 
Theresa Rothe (b. 1990, Dresden) studied at the HfBK Dresden, where she completed her diploma in 2019 and her master’s degree in 2022. Her sculptural and installation works explore the body, everyday life, the unconscious and the expression of inner emotional worlds. Dreamlike images and fantasies often form the starting point, creating a tension between the grotesque and play, dream and reality. Theresa Rothe lives in Leipzig and has been teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg since 2024.

The award ceremony will take place on 29 May 2026 as part of the exhibition opening.