Award 2021
Welcome to the Social Art Award 2021 – Online Gallery!
We are grateful for the many inspiring contributions from artists around the world. The selected works reflect a broad spectrum of contemporary social art practices and explore new relationships between humans, nature, and technology. They address themes such as ecological regeneration, climate justice, sustainable futures, social resilience, and more-than-human perspectives.
Below you will find the submissions from the Social Art Award 2021 – New Greening edition that passed the initial jury round. The Online Gallery offers public visibility to these works and encourages dialogue around their ideas and approaches; it does not replace the final jury decision.
Thank you to all artists for sharing your visionary and committed work. We invite you to explore the gallery and engage with the perspectives shaping New Greening.
Orchid Cabinet
Madeline von Foerster
This painting explores the beauty of orchids, at the intersection with human greed and lust for ownership. Depicted are eight species of orchid (and three species of beetle), all endangered due to over-collection from the wild. Orchid smuggling is a multi-million dollar enterprise, which sometimes extirpates rare species before they are even known to science. I spent weeks researching orchids for this painting, relying on field work from botanists and entomologists. The airline baggage label is a reminder: Every hour of every day, endangered species of all kinds are being trafficked across the planet.
This painting explores the beauty of orchids, at the intersection with human greed and lust for ownership. Depicted are eight species of orchid (and three species of beetle), all endangered due to over-collection from the wild. Orchid smuggling is a multi-million dollar enterprise, which sometimes extirpates rare species before they are even known to science. I spent weeks researching orchids for this painting, relying on field work from botanists and entomologists. The airline baggage label is a reminder: Every hour of every day, endangered species of all kinds are being trafficked across the planet.