Art Prize Jury 2025
Since 2007, we have worked with thousands of artists, putting their work in front of curators and gallerists from across the world, including those from Tate Modern, Barbican, Guggenheim, Brooklyn Museum, British Journal of Photography, Creative Review, YSP, Frieze, London Art Fair and more.
We are delighted to present the Jury for the Aesthetica Art Prize 2025. The panel comprises influential art figures, including curators, academics and artists whose expertise spans all media.
Emma Dean
Curator, BALTIC
Emma Dean is Curator at BALTIC, Gateshead. Exhibitions include mid-career surveys of Thomas Scheibitz, Caroline Achaintre, Huma Bhabha and Sutapa Biswas and major presentations by Jesse Wine, Jumana Emil Abboud, Sofia Stevi, Ifeoma U. Anyaeji, Joy Labinjo, and Mounira Al Solh. Emma also leads on BALTIC’s residency programme.
Maryam Tafakory
Artist
Maryam Tafakory is an artist-filmmaker from Iran. Her textual and filmic collages bring together poetry, speculative nonfiction, and archival material. Tafakory is a multiple-time alumni of Aesthetica; the 2017 and 2019 Emerging Prize, and the 2024 Aesthetica Main Prize Winner. She was also the 2024 recipient of the Film London Jarman Award.
Kay Watson
Head of Arts Technologies, Serpentine
Kay Watson is a producer and curator specializing in art, advanced technologies, photography, and video games. In addition to serving as Head of Arts Technologies at London’s Serpentine, Kay is also a Trustee for Mediale and The Photographers’ Gallery, London, and a committed advocate for innovation and experimentation in contemporary art.
Larry Achiampong
Artist
Larry Achiampong is a British-Ghanaian artist. In 2019, he received the Paul Hamlyn Artist award and, in 2020, he was awarded a Stanley Picker fellowship. He has presented projects worldwide, including Tate Britain and Modern, London; The Institute for Creative Arts, Cape Town; Prospect, New Orleans; and the Diaspora Pavilion at the 57th Biennale.
Salma Tuqan
Director, Nottingham Contemporary
Salma Tuqan is a contemporary art and design curator and cultural strategist. Currently, she is the director of Nottingham Contemporary. Prior to joining the arts centre, Tuqan was the deputy director of Delfina Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to developing creative practice through residencies, exhibitions, and public programming.
Nephertiti Oboshie Schandorf
Producer & Commissioner
Nephertiti Oboshie Schandorf is a British-Ghanaian producer of site-responsive performance, audio, and moving image in non-gallery contexts. Her practice seeks collaboration and is informed by the formation of protective networks. She serves on the Art on the Underground Advisory Panel and is Engagement and Participation Lead at the Wellcome Collection.
Luke Kemp
Associate Curator, Barbican
Luke Kemp’s most recent productions include leading on the curation and development of Our Time on Earth (2022) and AI: More than Human (2019). Prior to working at the Barbican, Luke worked with galleries and organisations across the world on programming and projects including for the Venice Biennale and The Armory Art Fair, amongst others.
Poppy Bowers
Senior Curator, The Whitworth
Poppy Bowers is a contemporary art curator and currently Senior Curator of Exhibitions at the Whitworth, Manchester. She has worked with artists including Alison Wilding, Barbara Walker, Imran Perretta, Isaac Julien and William Kentridge, and is currently working with Yuki Kihara on a new iteration of the artist’s installation Paradise Camp.