“ad occhi chiusi…” Prize

The “ad occhi chiusi…” Prize, promoted by the Fondazione Merz, has been awarded to Hu Yun, presented by A+ WORKS OF ART gallery, Kuala Lumpur. Inspired by the research of Marisa Merz and her invitation to look beyond the surface of images, the prize supports artistic practices capable of questioning the present, with particular attention to social and political questions. For the 2026 edition, on the occasion of the large exhibition dedicated to the artist of Turinese origins, the award offers one of the artists participating in Artissima the possibility of realising an exhibition or performative project on the occasion of the edition of the fair of the following year.

Jury: Beatrice Merz, President, Fondazione Merz, Torino, Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu, Director, Index- The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm, Alya Sebti,Senior Curator, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Giulia Turconi, Assistant Curator, Fondazione Merz, Torino.

 “The jury decided to award Hun Yu for the 2026 edition of the “ad occhi chiusi…” prize by Fondazione Merz for the relevanceand consistency of his research into mineral ecology, labour, migration, extractivist policies and contamination, the clarity of artistic and formal methods in transforming this research intoartworks alongside the installative intelligence in bringing themtogether in this eloquent way in a fair booth format. The artistmanages to weave geographical resonances connecting differentlocations in the world such as Lake Tabuye of Tibet  (the second largest reserve for battery making lithium) and Lake Ohridbetween Albania and Macedonia or Nepal and Croatia in hissensitive critique of extractivist politics. He urges us to look intothe cracks of the system we live in with a vision of future highlighting all the invisible labour behind; to become activewitnesses for the ecological impact of our hyperdigitalisedpractices.”