Abbas Akhavan (photo by Alex de Brabant)
The Hnatyshyn Foundation has announced the 2025 winners of its Mid-Career Awards.
Abbas Akhavan is this year's recipient of The Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award for Excellence in Visual Arts. He will receive $30,000 to further his career.
Born in Iran, Akhavan now splits his time between Montreal and Berlin. He holds a master of fine arts from the University of British Columbia and a bachelor of fine arts from Concordia University. He will represent Canada at the Venice Biennale in 2026.
The selection committee for the Hnatyshyn Visual Arts Excellence award included Michelle LaVallee, Crystal Mowry, Kitty Scott, Pascal Grandmaison and Tak Pham.
“Visiting Abbas’s aesthetic propositions makes us collectors of objects that we use in the next exhibition to unlock a new meaning,” said Grandmaison. “His is a never-ending project; each gesture is an activation of fiction.”
Andrea Fatona (photo by Bidemi Oloyede)
And Dr. Andrea Fatona is this year's recipient of The Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award for Curatorial Excellence. She will receive $20,000.
Born in England, she moved to Toronto from Jamaica in the 1970s. An associate professor at OCAD University, she is an independent curator and has received awards from Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Fatona is also the founder of the Centre for the Study of Black Canadian Diaspora, OCAD U.
The selection committee for the Hnatyshyn Curatorial Excellence award included eunice bélidor, Zachari Logan, Shelley Niro, Michelle Jacques and Marigold Santos.
“I have a great respect for curators who help me understand things better. Fatona is an incredible curator and a beautiful speaker. In a talk, she said that ‘it is not necessary for us [curators] to be obtuse,’” said Santos. “Her research is deep and her work involves a broader community context. She is able to communicate complex ideas in a way that is accessible.”
Source: The Hnatyshyn Foundation
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