HKU Awards

Each year, HKU gives out three awards to students who graduated that academic year at a bachelor’s or master’s course of HKU. These so-called HKU Awards come with a financial gift of € 5000,-. Half of this is free to spend, the other half is to be spent on a predefined spending target.

The HKU awards cover a broad scale of disciplines, such as fine art, design, music, theatre, film, games, and new media. The nominees are carefully selected and assessed by an independent jury of renowned professionals and experts from the world of art. They evaluate the works on the basis of innovation, entrepreneurship and artistic quality.

HKU Prize of Utrecht City

Among the nominated students, the jury also selects a winner for the HKU Prize of Utrecht City. This priz emphasises the importance of art and culture for the city of Utrecht and its inhabitants, and promotes the cultural diversity and creative development of Utrecht. The jury will judge the works mainly on the social impact of the graduation work. Also attached to this prize is a cash prize of €5,000, half of which is free to spend and the other half is earmarked to a particular project.

Ceremony

The winners will be announced on Thursday 18 September at the opening of academic year 25/26 at TivoliVredenburg. All nominees will be invited to present their work here during the graduation exhibition CONNECT.

Members of the Jury

The jury consists of leading professionals from different disciplines:
Femke Rotteveel (Fotodok) - Chairman
Carolien de Boer (Utrecht City)
Ralph Keuning (art historian)
Eppo van Nispen tot Sevenaer (Beeld en Geluid)
Kevin Osepa (photographer and filmmaker)
Xavier Vandamme (Early Music)
Margriet Vollenberg (Organisation in Design)

The winners of the HKU Awards 2024:

Katharina Busl - Bliss Domain (Fine Art)
Jury report: The jury was hugely impressed by the unbelievably well-thought out and uncompromising execution Katharina’s top-quality presentation (with no cables to be seen; she moved the door entrance, and meanwhile made the whole room waterproof). Were we suddenly inside a temple? All was framed within a clear atmosphere: we walked in and understood the work. It felt like a shrine, yet without a religious function. A profane place of worship? Recognisable as something that it’s not. Katharina created an immersive artwork of total area experience, with colours, scents, sound, movement. A combination of industrialism, with the exactly fitting grids and the apt application of technology, with artistry: like the blue water we walked over. Wat a sublime multi-dimensional exercise. We hope that Katharina keeps creating and that many people will experience her work, and thereby come to new perspectives on reality.

Lucy Azatyan - Echoes of Home (Media)
Jury report: Lucy welcomed the jury into her world, in which she took us along on a poetic exploration of her Armenian roots. Through her aesthetic and emotional imagery, her questions about identity, memory and experiences of displacement transcended the traditional conventions. Lucy chooses unique perspectives and framings that pulled us into her story. The images speak for themselves as they offer a recognisable and personal view on universal themes to which all of us can relate in our own ways. Apart from being a reflection, Echoes of Home is also a celebration of the resilience and identity of the Armenian people. After seeing Lucy’s work, it automatically leads to a discussion about the importance of cultural heritage in world that is in constant change.

Naomi Voet - Mother’s Child (Media)
Jury report: The jury was glued to their seats after watching Mother’s Child: Naomi’s animation film. A nine-minute animation where you can see and sense the love, time and attention that was put in its creation. The film offers a glimpse in the life of mother Mary and her adult son Murphy, whose mental and physical limitations cause him to need permanent care. In a subtle yet powerful ay, Mother’s Child shows how the mother is living a daily struggle to prove her son’s disabilities to government agencies, how she sometimes has trouble understanding what her son needs, and how she keeps finding the beauty in life despite all the bureaucratic fuss. The image that sticks with us, because it so clearly shows how unconditional but also painful Mary’s love is, is the moment her eyelashes start growing when her feelings are expressed. We hope that many people will see this film and that Naomi will keep creating many more works.

The winner of the HKU Utrecht City Prize:
Junior Joseph Kwasi Appiah (Jurami) (Fine Art)
Jury report: This sensitive, curious and shining personality gave the jury a personal view inside his experience, that transcends his own particular story thanks to the multidisciplinary expressions. Junior makes a clear message in his performance and in the ‘cave’ that he created: you may be yourself. Everything is self-created, from the music to the clothing. His self-expression is uniting and offers marginalised groups the power to reclaim the stage, as he himself calls it. His conversation with the jury, also brought to light the radical and painful personal choices he has made, all without any resentment. Junior evokes so much energy and emotion when talking about this inner journey. A journey that doesn’t feel like a fight or a slaughter, where there’s no bitterness, but only positive energy. His work was seen by the jury as an impressive and generous testimony. An energy that we need right now. Moreover, their moment with Junior still lingers among the jury to this day. And isn’t that the highest that one can be achieved?

The nominated students for the HKU Awards 2024 were:

Pan Vanitcharoenthum (Master Fine Art)
Katharina Busl (Fine Art)
Junior Joseph Kwasi Appiah (Jurami) (Fine Art)
Loes ten Den (Creative Transformation)
Monique van Meel (Creative Transformation)
Kiek Vellinga (Creative Transformation)
Iris Zegwaard (Fashion Design)
Melisa Öztürk (Fashion Design)
Alanis Blondeel (Spatial Design)
Ilse Veening (Product Design)
Victor Studulski (Product Design)
Gael Gawlinski (Art & Economics)
Daniel ten Broeke (Art & Economics)
Christel Blom (Art & Economics)
Wido Beukhof (Games)
Hedda Splinter (Games)
Faye Kievit (Games)
Levi Vermaning (Games)
Xena Derks (Music Design for Games and Interaction)
Mipham Chhowing (Media)
Naomi Voet (Media)
Rolf Wienbelt (Media)
Michael Hauwert (Media)
Lucy Azatyan (Media)
Merel Pielkenrood (Theater Design)
Tjardo Stellingwerf (Master Scenography)
Kiki Deirdre (Utrechts Conservatorium)