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.
Greening the Lab - Agar Bioplastic
Anna C Dumitriu
This submission highlights bioplastic artefacts made from waste agar; a seaweed-based gelling agent essential in scientific laboratories. Stemming from Anna Dumitriu's "Greening the Lab" research, the work confronts the immense environmental footprint of single-use plastics in biomedical science. Agar, sourced from marine algae (a major component of blue carbon), and used to culture infectious bacteria for diagnosis and research, is discarded after use. This project transforms this overlooked waste stream into biodegradable materials in a safe way, crafting objects that embody the concept of the circular economy. By demonstrating a tangible alternative to fossil fuel plastics, using a substance intrinsically linked to marine ecosystems, the work directly addresses plastic pollution – a critical threat to ocean health.
This submission highlights bioplastic artefacts made from waste agar; a seaweed-based gelling agent essential in scientific laboratories. Stemming from Anna Dumitriu's "Greening the Lab" research, the work confronts the immense environmental footprint of single-use plastics in biomedical science. Agar, sourced from marine algae (a major component of blue carbon), and used to culture infectious bacteria for diagnosis and research, is discarded after use. This project transforms this overlooked waste stream into biodegradable materials in a safe way, crafting objects that embody the concept of the circular economy. By demonstrating a tangible alternative to fossil fuel plastics, using a substance intrinsically linked to marine ecosystems, the work directly addresses plastic pollution – a critical threat to ocean health.