The Lumen Prize Announces 99 Artists as 2025 Finalists

Founded in 2012, The Lumen Prize recognizes artists who tap into the transformative power of technology. 2025 represents a milestone year for the non-profit organization—with a record-setting 2,243 submissions from 71 countries, as well as the introduction of four new award categories. Despite the staggering number of applicants, Lumen upheld its two-stage judging process, which requires every submission to be reviewed by two members of its selection committee (itself composed of more than 85 experts drawn from the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate, the Onassis Foundation, Sotheby’s, Christie’s, NVIDIA, Google, and more).

As for the 31 percent increase in applicants, “we’re attracting both emerging and seasoned professionals who have moved beyond simply using off-the-shelf technology to actively shaping their own digital systems, creating custom code, and collaborating with technology to address urgent questions,” Gillian Leitten, CEO of The Lumen Prize, shares with Surface. “The addition of four new categories—performance and music, literature and poetry, fashion and design, and hybrid digital/physical—signals that we’re meeting artists where they actually are in their practice, and this inclusive approach extends beyond categories.” Leitten notes that Lumen has also achieved gender parity once again.

This year’s roster of global finalists includes Lachlan Turczan (in the hybrid category), Sofia Crespo (in both the experiential and nature and climate categories), SPEKTRA (in identity and culture), and Zhongyao Wang (in moving image). Winners will be announced this October, during a week of events encompassing the 2025 Lumen Prize Award Ceremony, hosted in partnership with the Kunstsilo museum in Kristiansand, Norway.

“The caliber of our finalists validates what Lumen has become: the community for artists who redefine what art can be in our technological age,” Leitten says. “This year’s cohort, for instance, includes artists who trained A.I. on personal archives to reclaim lost histories, created installations where your heartbeat controls the environment, and built digital rituals that transform climate data into physical sensation”.

Leitten sees the performance and music category as an encapsulation of Lumen’s mission. “As one of our four new award categories, it has become a fascinating lens for understanding how artists are embracing immersive participation, technological layering, and co-creation,” she explains. “These artists aren’t just adding technology to traditional performance; they’re completely reimagining what live art can be.” The category’s 12 finalists have replaced passive viewing experiences and established new ways of interfacing with performance. As Leitten says, “it’s a whole new paradigm for the medium.”