Announcing the Winners of the 2025 GAeM Prize

On Saturday, December 13, in the Sala Martini of the MAR – Museum of Art of the City of Ravenna, the award ceremony of the VII International GAeM Prize – Young Artists and Mosaic was held, an event that for over thirteen years has narrated and supported the new trajectories of contemporary mosaic.

The gathering brought together artists, curators, representatives of cultural institutions, and enthusiasts, becoming a shared moment of dialogue and celebration. During the afternoon, the winners of the two sections of the Prize were announced, which once again this year saw a very high number of applications.

The event was introduced by the two curators of the Prize, Sabina Ghinassi and Antonio Rocca, who presented to the audience the selection process and the critical orientations that guided the 2025 edition. The dialogue was moderated by Daniele Torcellini, Artistic Director of the IX Biennial of Contemporary Mosaic, joined by Roberto Cantagalli, Director of the MAR, and representatives of the Prize’s partners: Orsoni Venezia 1888 and Fondazione Nicola Cingoli.

For the section dedicated to traditional mosaic, realized in collaboration with the historic furnace Orsoni Venezia 1888, the prize was awarded to Sofia Liapis with the work Madonna (2024), which marked the virtuous encounter between mosaic philology and contemporary content, such as the critical reflection on the image of classical Motherhood.

For the section dedicated to unconventional and experimental languages – developed together with the Fondazione Cingoli – the prize went to Luca Federico Ferrero with Bordo Mare (2025), a conceptual work, a frozen reflection on our desire for domination/coercion over what Nature is.

Both works will become part of the MAR’s Collection of Contemporary Mosaics, bearing witness to the role of the Prize in building a living and ever-evolving archive.

A special mention was awarded to Silvia Mantellini Faieta, who, with the site-specific installation Sīdus, entered into immersive dialogue with the spaces of the Chiostro della Manica Lunga, weaving together personal memories and suggestions from the history of Ravenna.

The Exhibition and the Vision of GAeM

This year’s edition, inaugurated on October 18 in the Manica Lunga of the Biblioteca Classense and open until January 18, 2026, gathers 38 works selected from 136 applications coming from very diverse contexts, testifying to how mosaic continues to attract and inspire new generations.

The exhibition path moves between traditional materials and radical experimentation, classical techniques and hybrid practices. The works engage with the theme of the Biennial of Contemporary Mosaic 2025, “Shared Place”, reflecting on concepts of community, identity, relationship with territories, and with time.

GAeM remains a unique platform, which does not simply collect works but promotes processes, encounters, and opportunities. This is why alongside the exhibition continues the project of the Mosaic Residencies, which in 2025 involved Lisa Martignoni and Dalia Tvardauskaite in the Ravenna workshops of Pixel Mosaici and Dimensione Mosaico, guided by curators Viviana Piraneo and Giorgio Vernuccio. A formative experience that allows younger generations to work in the field, in direct contact with the living tradition of Ravenna’s mosaic.

Mosaic Residencies II are supported by the Municipality of Ravenna, conceived and coordinated by the GA/ER Association – Young Artists Emilia-Romagna – for the realization of the project “Constellation: young creative connections” aimed at artists under 35 from Emilia-Romagna. This initiative is made possible thanks to the contribution of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Department of Housing Policies, Labor and Youth Policies, within the framework of the GECO 13 (Young, Evolved and Aware) collaboration agreement signed with the Italian Government’s Department for Youth Policies and the Servizio Civile Universale.

Looking Beyond Ravenna

The GAeM journey does not end with the closing of the exhibition. 

In 2026, a selection of the works will be presented in the spaces of Orsoni Venezia 1888, on the occasion of the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia: an important milestone for the participating artists and a direct bridge between emerging research and the international scene.

Also in 2026, the exhibition will be reinstalled at the Fondazione Cingoli in Roseto degli Abruzzi, expanding the reach of the works and the project.

A Prize Growing with the New Generations

The December 13 ceremony once again confirmed the vitality of GAeM, a prize that over the years has supported mosaic not as a mere heritage, but as a contemporary language, capable of reinventing itself and speaking to the present.

Thanks to the support of the Municipality of Ravenna, the MAR, the Biblioteca Classense, the Emilia-Romagna Region, GA/ER, Orsoni Venezia 1888, Fondazione Cingoli, and private partners, GAeM continues to be a space of growth, exchange, and visibility for the new artistic generation.

The exhibition is open until January 18, 2026, with free admission, in the Manica Lunga of the Biblioteca Classense.