NEW WAVE Art Prize by Bog'Art Foundation

NEW WAVE Art Prize 2025
Bog’Art Foundation

Launched in the spring of this year by the Bog’Art Foundation, the NEW WAVE Art Prize marks a significant initiative in supporting and promoting young artists within Romania’s academic environment. Conceived as a platform for artistic discovery and validation, the competition targets undergraduate and master’s students from art universities across the country, offering them visibility and recognition for their creativity and artistic boldness. The prize is not only substantial in value but also a symbolic acknowledgment of the young artist’s potential to influence contemporary visual discourse.

The theme of this inaugural edition invited participants to translate their personal reactions and emotions into artistic language in the context of intense social tensions, political instability, and rapid cultural transformation. More than just a topic, this invitation served as a catalyst for introspection and response, shedding light on how new generations of artists interpret the complexities of today’s world: between technology and humanity, identity and marginality, rupture and reconnection.

The NEW WAVE Art Prize jury included prominent figures from Romania’s contemporary art scene: Catinca Tabacaru, Daniela Pălimariu, Ștefan Sava, and Matei Bejenaru, joined by Bogdan Doicescu, founder of the Bog’Art Foundation.

From 57 applications received, the jury selected seven finalists. Their works—ranging from paintings to installations and sculptures—form the NEW WAVE Art Prize exhibition, open to the public from July 3 to 20, 2025, at Catinca Tabacaru Gallery in Bucharest.

Located in a former industrial factory once dedicated to railway electrification, the Catinca Tabacaru Gallery provides a spectacular and thought-provoking setting that aligns perfectly with the mission of its partnership with the Bog’Art Foundation: to offer emerging artists a real opportunity for recognition within a professional and demanding environment. The exhibition space, with its industrial features and post-communist memory, acts as a conceptual extension of the artworks themselves, becoming part of the overall narrative.

The NEW WAVE Art Prize is an effort to build an artistic ecosystem in which students are treated as future cultural actors—autonomous, visionary, and expressive.

“Through this initiative, we are not seeking definitive answers, but rather powerful questions capable of sparking meaningful conversations” says Bogdan Doicescu.

“The new artistic directions proposed by the most promising art students of today offer valuable insights into the concerns and ideas of the new generation. They are a window into the future—essential to understanding how we can build a peaceful, united, and prosperous society. This first edition of the NEW WAVE Art Prize marks a pioneering moment and confirms that the Romanian business sector is ready to authentically support artistic creation—with respect and real resources. NEW WAVE is not just a beginning, but also a promise: that the art of young people will be taken seriously, promoted, and responsibly supported” adds Catinca Tăbăcaru.

Artists:
Dan Cebotari (Iași)
Andreea Ilie (Bucharest)
Ștefania Iakab (Timișoara)
Alexandru Ilievici (Iași)
Teodor Georgescu (Bucharest)
Claudia Nicola Ungureanu (Iași)
Mădălina Vîrgolici (Cluj-Napoca)