Kelechi Amaka Madumere is the winner of the 2025 Helvetia Art Prize
Kelechi Amaka Madumere, born in 2000 and a graduate of the bachelor’s degree programme in Representation at HEAD in Geneva, has won the 2025 Helvetia Art Prize. The award, which is intended as a leg-up for young artists, includes prize money of CHF 15,000 and the chance to stage a solo exhibition.
15.05.2025 | Media releases
The 2025 Helvetia Art Prize has been awarded to Kelechi Amaka Madumere, born in 2000. The winner is a graduate of the bachelor’s degree programme in Representation at the Haute École d’art et de design (HEAD) in Geneva.
Kelechi Amaka Madumere’s art deals with the complex interplay of violence, childhood and social power structures. Drawing on her own experiences, she succeeds in interweaving personal narratives with collective realities, addressing both domestic and systemic violence and creating a multi-layered picture of how oppression is inscribed in bodies, materials and spaces. In her installations, drawings and assemblages, Madumere translates complex emotions such as pain, powerlessness and tenderness into a precise material language. She prefers to work with used and supposedly worthless found objects – things that already bear traces of the past – and treats them with care, as if trying to heal what is broken without denying its fractures. Kelechi Amaka Madumere is able to deal with complex themes such as racist violence and abuse in a forceful way without moralising; instead, she opens up a powerful discourse with every element of her installations.
Kelechi Amaka Madumere’s work “Down the rabbit hole, how to invest in a world that is not yours?” (2025) can be seen at the CAN Centre d’art Neuchâtel until 6 July 2025. It is part of Plattform, a series of exhibitions that showcases the work of young artists in Switzerland every year.
A game played by different rules
For Plattform25, Kelechi Amaka Madumere created the expansive installation “Down the rabbit hole, how to invest in a world that is not yours?”, in which she examines the lasting effect of colonial power structures. An oversized chessboard serves as an image of the different rules of the game that emerged in the historical context of white supremacy – and continue to have an impact today. The central elements are two opposing groups of figures: individually crafted dolls representing Black bodies are juxtaposed with smooth, faceless symbols made of Perspex and white-painted plastic – an embodiment of institutionalised, abstract power. While the individually created fabric dolls embody resistance, vulnerability and independence, a variety of colonial symbols such as flags, logos and Celtic crosses refer to a system based on exploitation, control and segregation. Madumere translates complex experiences of structural and personal violence into a variety of materials, creating a multi-layered, dynamic space for reflection in which history, identity and unequal power relations are brought to the fore. With great formal clarity and narrative density, the artist creates a touching, stirring scene that also calls on the viewer to take a stand without resorting to didactic gestures. With every element – materials, symbols and gestures – Kelechi Amaka Madumere develops a dialogue that transcends the work itself.
2025 Helvetia Art Prize jury
This year’s Helvetia Art Prize jury is made up of Francesca Benini (MASI Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana, Lugano), Stefanie Gschwend (Kunstmuseum/Kunsthalle Appenzell), Julia Jung (LISTE Art Fair Basel), Liza Trottet (CAN Centre d’art Neuchâtel), Nathalie Loch and Marlene Marti (Helvetia Art Department).
A leg-up as part of its commitment to art
With the Art Prize, Helvetia Insurance supports young artists at the beginning of their careers. The Helvetia Art Prize is therefore aimed at graduates of Swiss universities of applied sciences in fine art and media art. The prize provides a double leg-up: on the one hand, Kelechi Amaka Madumere receives prize money of CHF 15,000 and, on the other, the opportunity to present her work to the general public in the coming year with a curated solo exhibition.
Committed to art
The Helvetia Art Prize is a key aspect of the international insurance group’s commitment to art. The prize has been awarded annually since 2004. Initially known as the Nationale Suisse Art Prize, it has been called the Helvetia Art Prize since the merger of Helvetia and Nationale Suisse. Helvetia, which also insures art, has one of the most important collections of contemporary Swiss art, stretching back 80 years. The collection focuses on paintings, drawings and photography. Since 2015, Helvetia has also had its own public exhibition space, the Helvetia Art Foyer at its headquarters in Basel. This features either themed exhibitions with works from its own collection or solo showcases by various artists.
Plattform25
10 May to 6 July 2025
Opening hours:
Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Free admission
CAN Centre d’art Neuchâtel
Rue des Moulins 37
2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
http://www.plattformplattform.ch
Kelechi Amaka Madumere’s art deals with the complex interplay of violence, childhood and social power structures. Drawing on her own experiences, she succeeds in interweaving personal narratives with collective realities, addressing both domestic and systemic violence and creating a multi-layered picture of how oppression is inscribed in bodies, materials and spaces. In her installations, drawings and assemblages, Madumere translates complex emotions such as pain, powerlessness and tenderness into a precise material language. She prefers to work with used and supposedly worthless found objects – things that already bear traces of the past – and treats them with care, as if trying to heal what is broken without denying its fractures. Kelechi Amaka Madumere is able to deal with complex themes such as racist violence and abuse in a forceful way without moralising; instead, she opens up a powerful discourse with every element of her installations.
Kelechi Amaka Madumere’s work “Down the rabbit hole, how to invest in a world that is not yours?” (2025) can be seen at the CAN Centre d’art Neuchâtel until 6 July 2025. It is part of Plattform, a series of exhibitions that showcases the work of young artists in Switzerland every year.
A game played by different rules
For Plattform25, Kelechi Amaka Madumere created the expansive installation “Down the rabbit hole, how to invest in a world that is not yours?”, in which she examines the lasting effect of colonial power structures. An oversized chessboard serves as an image of the different rules of the game that emerged in the historical context of white supremacy – and continue to have an impact today. The central elements are two opposing groups of figures: individually crafted dolls representing Black bodies are juxtaposed with smooth, faceless symbols made of Perspex and white-painted plastic – an embodiment of institutionalised, abstract power. While the individually created fabric dolls embody resistance, vulnerability and independence, a variety of colonial symbols such as flags, logos and Celtic crosses refer to a system based on exploitation, control and segregation. Madumere translates complex experiences of structural and personal violence into a variety of materials, creating a multi-layered, dynamic space for reflection in which history, identity and unequal power relations are brought to the fore. With great formal clarity and narrative density, the artist creates a touching, stirring scene that also calls on the viewer to take a stand without resorting to didactic gestures. With every element – materials, symbols and gestures – Kelechi Amaka Madumere develops a dialogue that transcends the work itself.
2025 Helvetia Art Prize jury
This year’s Helvetia Art Prize jury is made up of Francesca Benini (MASI Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana, Lugano), Stefanie Gschwend (Kunstmuseum/Kunsthalle Appenzell), Julia Jung (LISTE Art Fair Basel), Liza Trottet (CAN Centre d’art Neuchâtel), Nathalie Loch and Marlene Marti (Helvetia Art Department).
A leg-up as part of its commitment to art
With the Art Prize, Helvetia Insurance supports young artists at the beginning of their careers. The Helvetia Art Prize is therefore aimed at graduates of Swiss universities of applied sciences in fine art and media art. The prize provides a double leg-up: on the one hand, Kelechi Amaka Madumere receives prize money of CHF 15,000 and, on the other, the opportunity to present her work to the general public in the coming year with a curated solo exhibition.
Committed to art
The Helvetia Art Prize is a key aspect of the international insurance group’s commitment to art. The prize has been awarded annually since 2004. Initially known as the Nationale Suisse Art Prize, it has been called the Helvetia Art Prize since the merger of Helvetia and Nationale Suisse. Helvetia, which also insures art, has one of the most important collections of contemporary Swiss art, stretching back 80 years. The collection focuses on paintings, drawings and photography. Since 2015, Helvetia has also had its own public exhibition space, the Helvetia Art Foyer at its headquarters in Basel. This features either themed exhibitions with works from its own collection or solo showcases by various artists.
Plattform25
10 May to 6 July 2025
Opening hours:
Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Free admission
CAN Centre d’art Neuchâtel
Rue des Moulins 37
2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
http://www.plattformplattform.ch
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