The UdK Berlin Art Award has been awarded annually since 2023 within the Faculty of Fine Arts as well as in the Art and Media degree program of the Faculty of Design at the Berlin University of the Arts. A jury composed of renowned figures from Berlin’s art and cultural scene selects four master’s students from each graduating class.

The award includes a prize winners’ exhibition as well as a monographic catalogue.

The UdK Berlin Art Award replaces the “President’s Prize of the Berlin University of the Arts for Master’s Students in Fine Arts,” which was awarded from 1997 to 2022.

Applications are open to master’s students from the summer semester 2025 and the winter semester 2025/26 in the Faculty of Fine Arts, as well as to students from the Art and Media degree program in the Faculty of Design.

Students from the Art and Media program who have not yet completed their master’s studies may also apply, provided they can submit a written recommendation for completion.

A prerequisite for participation is the submission of complete application materials between 1 and 28 February 2026 to the address listed below. The complete application materials include:

• Declaration of consent
• Images of up to 5 artistic works, including title, medium, dimensions, and year of creation, compiled in a single PDF file. Video and sound files should be embedded as web links in the PDF (no download links).
• Artist statement in German and English (maximum 100 words / approx. 400 characters each).
• Short biography outlining academic and artistic background (maximum 60 words / 300–400 characters).
• Explanation of the submitted works (300–400 words / 2,000–2,500 characters).
• Scan of the master’s certificate (can be submitted later) or, for applicants from the Art and Media program, a written recommendation for the master’s completion.

The application is exclusively digital. Please submit all documents in one e-mail to artaward_ @udk-berlin.de. The e-mail attachment must not exceed a maximum size of 20 MB. Deadline for submission is February 28, 2026. 

In the first jury meeting on March 10, 2026, the jury will nominate a selection of applicants for the UdK Berlin Art Award 2026. The nominated artists will be invited at the beginning of the summer semester 2026 to present their work in the joint nominees exhibition from May 21-23, 2026 at the UdK Berlin.

In the second jury meeting on May 21, 2026, the jury will visit the exhibition and hold discussions with the nominees. 

The jury will then name the four prize winners.

The nominees exhibition will take place from May 21.-23., 2026 in the foyer and the cross gallery of Hardenbergstraße 33. The award winners will be announced on May 21 at 6:00 pm.

The works of the prize winners are expected to be presented in a group exhibition at the Kommunalen Galerie Berlin in November 2026.

Monographic catalogs will be produced on the occasion of the exhibition. Each award winner will receive a catalog of approximately 28 pages. All individual catalogs have the same size and a uniform graphic frame and are provided with a foreword by the president. The contents of the catalog, such as texts and work illustrations, are created independently by the award winners. The graphic design is created in collaboration with a graphic designer commissioned by the Department for Interfaculty Events. The award winners will each receive 200 catalogs for free use.

Information and impressions of past exhibitions in recent years: udk-berlin.de/artaward

If you have any questions, please contact the UdK Berlin's Department for Interfaculty Events team at: artaward_ @udk-berlin.de

Good luck from the UdK Berlin Interfaculty Events Team!