Mercedes Lachmann Awarded the 2025 Sustainable Art Prize
17.10.2025
With a project that weaves together ecological awareness and shared memory, Brazilian artist Mercedes Lachmann has been awarded the 2025 Sustainable Art Prize.
The award ceremony took place on October 10 in Verona, during the annual contemporary art fair ArtVerona, as part of the prize’s eighth edition. The initiative is promoted by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in collaboration with the fair. The prize is aimed at artists and collectives who, through their artistic research, engage with major global challenges in line with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.
Mercedes Lachmann, represented by Orma Art Gallery, was selected from among ten candidates for her project that merges environmental sustainability with decolonial reflection, resulting in an original and thought-provoking vision. The jury recognized her ability to interweave natural materials, traditional knowledge, and collective memory, shaping an artistic practice that fosters ecological consciousness and opens up new perspectives on the theme of sustainability.
In the coming months, Lachmann will begin developing a new, original work, set to be realized in autumn 2026, with the participation of students from the three partner universities: Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the University of Padua, and the University of Verona. Active engagement of academic communities is a core element of the Prize, which, since its launch in 2017, has taken on an increasingly regional dimension from 2022, involving the three universities not only in the creative process but also in the jury composition. This year’s jury included: Elena Semenzin (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice), Mauro Varotto (University of Padua), Matteo Nicolini (University of Verona), and art historian Giulia Zompa (University of Milan).
Meanwhile, October 2025 also saw the launch of the project curated by Giacomo Segantin, winner of last year’s edition. The artist is currently working with students from the three universities on an installation focused on the theme of invasive nature in urban spaces, exploring how vegetation reclaims human-altered environments and proposing new ways of coexistence between humans and the natural world. The installation will open to the public in December 2025, marking the conclusion of the programme of seminars and workshops promoted by the Prize.
