Kunsthuis Syb is excited to celebrate the opening of the 10th edition of the Sybren Hellinga Keunstpriis 2025. Works of the five nominees: Charlène Dannancier, Cecilie Fang, Karin Iturralde Nurnberg, Ahmad Mallah and Okki Poortvliet, will be presented in a group exhibition curated by Titus Nouwens.

Each edition of the Sybren Hellinga Keunstpriis brings new voices to Beetsterzwaag. A group of emerging artists with diverse backgrounds and working methods come together, giving visitors a cross–sectional view of contemporary art in the Netherlands today. The artists featured in this tenth edition grew up in Drenthe, Ecuador, Denmark, France, and Syria and studied in Groningen, The Hague, Amsterdam, and Breda.

On Saturday 8 November, the tenth edition of the Sybren Hellinga Keunstpriis has been awarded to Okki Poortvliet. The prize, consisting of €3000, is intended as a stimulus for emerging artists. Named after the late gallerist Sybren Hellinga, the award is organized every three years by Kunsthuis Syb. Following an open call, five nominees were selected from 116 submissions by our jury, who also chose the winner based on their presentation at Kunsthuis Syb.

This year’s jury consisted of Lih-Lan Wong, director No Man’s Art Gallery, Femke Herregraven, visual artist, Oli D’Cruz, visual artist and nominee Sybren Hellinga Keunstpriis 2022, and Judith Vrancken, dramaturge. The jury was impressed by the overall quality of the presentations and how a younger generation of artists presents hope as a strategy to navigate societal conflict.

From the jury report: The work of the winner of the Sybren Hellinga Keunstpriis 2025 combines elements of documentary, drawing, and research with a remarkable sense of precision and honesty. Using comics and sketches when certain moments remain out of reach, she builds a language that feels entirely her own. There is a matter-of-factness in her work that surpasses moral judgements. Yet, she confronts us with our own complicity. The winner of the Sybren Hellinga Keunstpriis 2025 is Okki Poortvliet.