Artivism Awards
ARTIVISM is an international art platform and award initiative operating at the intersection of contemporary creation, social engagement, and ecological awareness.
Now in its fourth edition, ARTIVISM is establishing a lasting presence during the Venice Art Biennale, positioning itself as a meeting point for artists, thinkers and cultural actors engaged with the urgencies of our time.
THE ARTIVIST SHOWS
Artivism Performance
Art Miami Fairs - Aqua Art official sellection December 2019
No Plastic by Alexandra Mas
Artivism Awards biennale
First edition, 2020 Spazio S.V. Venezia, IT
Shim Eco Artivism - Inaugural USA, URSA gallery, 2020
The CORAL REEF
October 2021 - April 2022, URSA gallery USA
The DREAM
June to September, FORTEZA ORSINI, Sorano GR
presence at the SATURNIA Film Festival
Presence at the GROSETTO ART MUSEUM, 2022
The DREAM - Artivism Awards biennale
Second edition, 2022 Spazio S.V. Venezia, IT
Artivist Groupe Art Miami Fairs
Aqua Art official sellection, December 2022
World of MOCO, Bridgeport
April to September, 2023
ARTIVISM, HOHENTHAL UND BERGEN, Berlin
June - July 2023
BLAH BLAH project room, Berlin
Artivist Group Art Miami Fairs - Aqua Art official sellection December 2023
Artivist Group - Biennale Bordeaux
"Sérénité" April to October, 2024
MANPAÏ Gallery, 73 Rue Lucien Faure, 33300 BORDEAUX
PATHs - Artivism Awards biennale 3rd edition,
Palazzo PISANI Revedin, 2024
Winners of the 2nd and the 3rd Edition presented in NY
Winners of the 3rd edition presented at Aqua Art Miami - official Art Miami Fairs curation - December 2024 & December 2025
more about the orgnaisation
The programme culminates in the ARTIVIST LION AWARDS, founded by Alexandra Mas in close collaboration with Dr. Marco Tassini and Peter Hopkins. Conceived as a long-term recognition, the awards formalise ARTIVISM’s commitment to practices that redefine the role of art in relation to contemporary social and ecological realities.
Structured as a transnational network, the platform connects artists, collectors, scientists and institutions across borders. It operates within the Shim Art Network, founded by Peter Hopkins, a recognised artist whose practice bridges conceptual inquiry and collective formats. This open structure enables the emergence of independent initiatives while maintaining a coherent curatorial direction.
This direction is shaped in dialogue with the gallerist Diana von Hohenthal und Bergen, whose experience anchors the project within a broader institutional and market context.
Artivism Awards 3rd edition
Winner of the 2024 Artivist Lion - Dodi REIFENBERG
Winner of the Artivism Awards hosted in Bordeaux - Tori TASCH
art show October 17, 2024 to March 16, 2025
NOMINATED ARTISTS
Iyana Ibo Mandingo
Celia Gouveiac
Anton Laiko
between other cultural personalties the jury welcomed the presence of Diane Pernet, Diana Hohenthal and Laurence Pusteto.
The third edition of Artivism, presented at Palazzo Pisani Revedin in Venice, unfolded as a constellation of curatorial propositions addressing the intersections of art, society and collective consciousness.
At its core, the programme articulated multiple perspectives through distinct sections. The Social Justice segment, curated by Amy Jackson, brought together works engaging with questions of equity, representation and civic responsibility. Ecological manifests, curated by Alexandra Mas, explored photography, video art, paintings and performances. Post Cards to Venice, curated by Peter Hopkins, proposed a collective gesture, fragmented, intimate and addressed to the city itself. The section Bridgeport Social, curated by Susanne Kachmar, extended the dialogue across geographies, reinforcing Artivism’s commitment to transnational exchange.
The edition brought together a range of established voices, including Dodi Reifenberg, Haralampi G. Oroschakoff, Jill Krutick Brad Noble, and Annette Werndl. Their presence was complemented by returning Artivism Award laureates Bernard Garo and Nana Dix, whose works reaffirmed the continuity between successive editions.
Rather than a singular exhibition, the third edition of Artivism operated as a layered environment, one in which curatorial voices, artistic practices and performative gestures intersected, shaping a space of reflection on the conditions of the present.
Artivism Awards 2nd edition
Following their presentation at the Venice Artivism Awards Biennale, laureates were subsequently exhibited at AQVA Art Miami (2022), World of MOCO, Bridgeport (2023), and Artivism Berlin (2023).
Winners
Bernard GARO
Artivist Lion
Sebastian Layral
Artivist Award
MEZamorphose Orchestr'all
Lionceau Award
Nana DIX
best art short
Pierre-Jérôme JEHEL
technical award
Maria MARSHALL
public price
The second edition of Artivism marked a significant expansion of the platform’s scope through a collaboration with the Saturnia Film Festival, where, under the initiative of Alexandra Mas, an Art Short section was introduced.
This development placed moving image at the centre of the edition, shifting the curatorial focus toward art film as a medium of inquiry. The programme explored the capacity of film to articulate personal narratives, social tensions and poetic structures, extending Artivism’s engagement with contemporary realities into a temporal and cinematic dimension.
From this curation emerged two key figures—Bernard Garo and Nana Dix—whose works were recognised as the principal award recipients of the edition. Their practices, rooted in distinct visual languages, share a common intensity in addressing the relationship between image, memory and perception.
The edition brought together a diverse group of artists, including Win Denker, Sarah Olson, Sébastien Layral, Oscar Carvallo, Pierre-Jérôme Jehel, Grigory Dor, Peter Hopkins, Massimiliano Schiavon, Haralampi G. Oroschakoff, Dodi Reifenberg, Catrin Rothe and Anton Laiko. Their contributions reflected a plurality of approaches, from film and installation to painting and conceptual practices.
Artivism Awards 1st edition
The first edition of Artivism emerged in Venice under the impulse of Sergio Boldrin, a committed defender of ancestral Venetian craftsmanship and the preservation of the lagoon.
From the outset, the project was shaped by the collaboration between Alexandra Mas and Peter Hopkins, whose Shim Art Network provided the foundation for an open and collective curatorial structure.
Presented at Spazio San Vidal, in the heart of Venice, the exhibition brought forward the activist dimension of the platform, highlighting key works by Alexandra Mas and Marco Tassini. Their practices set the tone for Artivism’s engagement with social and environmental concerns.
The event was supported by the City of Venice, Venice Tap Water, and Venezia da Vivere, anchoring the initiative within both local and institutional contexts. This inaugural edition established the core principles of Artivism: a dialogue between art, activism and collective responsibility, rooted in the specific cultural and ecological fabric of Venice.
The exhibition culminated in the No Plastic public performance in Piazza San Marco, presented before an audience of over 10,000 people, extending a gesture first initiated during the 2019 Biennale.
