The 2025 Lumen Prize Finalists Announced

Eva Davidova “Audience As Virus”

Founded in 2012, the Lumen Prize is a global award celebrating the very best art created with technology, from algorithmic imagery and immersive installations to generative AI and digital performance. The 2025 edition marks a milestone year, with 2,243 submissions from 71 countries and the introduction of four new award categories. Each entry was reviewed through a rigorous two-stage process by an international committee of 85 experts from institutions including the V&A, Tate, the Onassis Foundation, Sotheby’s, Christie’s, NVIDIA, and Google. This year’s finalists, revealed yesterday, highlight how artists continue to expand the possibilities of digital creativity.

Esteban Amaro “In The Past Hides The Future”

For 2025, the prize fund totals $30,000, with each of the nine category winners receiving $2,000 and one exceptional work earning the coveted $12,000 Gold Award. The nine categories span from Still Image and Moving Image to Performance & Music, Hybrid, Literature & Poetry, Experiential, Fashion & Design, Nature & Climate, and Identity & Culture, reflecting the Prize’s commitment to showcasing the full spectrum of technological creativity. This edition also emphasises interactivity, immersive experiences, and socially engaged work, underscoring how technology can deepen both the reach and impact of artistic innovation.

David Sheldrick “Inconvenient Realities”

Gillian Leitten, CEO of the Lumen Prize, reflects on this year’s leap in scale and conceptual breadth (Surface Magazine):

“We’re attracting both emerging and seasoned professionals who have moved beyond simply using off-the-shelf technology to actively shaping their own digital systems, creating custom code, and collaborating with technology to address urgent questions. The addition of four new categories, performance and music, literature and poetry, fashion and design, and hybrid digital/physical, signals that we’re meeting artists where they actually are in their practice, and this inclusive approach extends beyond categories.”

Zhongyao Wang “Pixel Metabolism, Interface Ulcer”

Some standout finalists to watch include Lachlan Turczan, a finalist in the Hybrid (Digital/Physical) category who bridges corporeal experience and digital form; Sofia Crespo, recognised in both Experiential and Nature & Climate, continuing her poetic synthesis of organic and algorithmic life; SPEKTRA, in Identity & Culture, exploring the textures of heritage and collective memory; and Zhongyao Wang, featured in Moving Image, pushing narrative boundaries through time-based media. Esteban Amaro (Still Image) and David Sheldrick (Moving Image) also contribute compelling visual languages, rounding out a selection that exemplifies the diversity and innovation of this year’s finalists.

Lachlan Turczan “Lucida (I-VI)”

Winners will be revealed in October 2025 during a weeklong celebration culminating at the Kunstsilo Museum in Kristiansand, Norway, where the Lumen Prize Award Ceremony and a series of curated events will take place. As Leitten notes,

“The calibre of our finalists validates what Lumen has become: a community for artists who are redefining what art can be in our technological age.”