Welcome to the Social Art Award 2025 – Online Gallery!
We are grateful for the many powerful contributions from artists across the globe. The selected works reflect the diversity of contemporary social art practices and address urgent issues such as climate and water crises, social and economic inequality, migration, conflict, discrimination, and the protection of human and more-than-human life.
Below you will find the submissions from the edition of 2024/2025 that passed the initial jury round. The Online Gallery offers public visibility to these works and supports dialogue around their themes; it does not replace the final jury decision.
Thank you to all artists for sharing your inspiring and committed work. We invite you to explore the gallery and engage with the perspectives shaping the Social Art Award 2025.
Catch of the Day
Alex Dunsmuir
While the everyday objects depicted in this work are typically made from plastic or aluminum, everything in this piece is handcrafted entirely from paper, combining traditional and modern techniques. The bottle caps were created using a centuries-old paper rolling process. To make the fishing net, I twisted washi paper into twine and then weaved it using a traditional net-making technique. This process requires a special netting needle, which I made out of layered paper. The cigarettes are hand rolled and the burnt ash is finely grated cardstock. The layered paper plate, sardine can, fish hook, balloon, and utensils were created using paper sculpture techniques. In the spirit of this work, nothing was purchased to create it. I only used scraps and offcuts from previous projects. The bright colours are a nod to the “rainbow trash” movement, where artists around the world are using plastic and metal garbage salvaged from beaches and oceans to create beautiful works of art.
While the everyday objects depicted in this work are typically made from plastic or aluminum, everything in this piece is handcrafted entirely from paper, combining traditional and modern techniques. The bottle caps were created using a centuries-old paper rolling process. To make the fishing net, I twisted washi paper into twine and then weaved it using a traditional net-making technique. This process requires a special netting needle, which I made out of layered paper. The cigarettes are hand rolled and the burnt ash is finely grated cardstock. The layered paper plate, sardine can, fish hook, balloon, and utensils were created using paper sculpture techniques. In the spirit of this work, nothing was purchased to create it. I only used scraps and offcuts from previous projects. The bright colours are a nod to the “rainbow trash” movement, where artists around the world are using plastic and metal garbage salvaged from beaches and oceans to create beautiful works of art.