LEAP25

The four artists shortlisted for the 5th edition: Mike Bourscheid, Rozafa Elshan, Jill Lahr, Lynn Scheidweiler

The four finalists were selected from the applications submitted in response to the call for entries last December. The 2025 edition will run from 29 March to 27 April 2025, with the awards ceremony taking place during the preview on Friday 28 March 2025. Each of the finalists will also benefit from an artistic residency at the Bridderhaus (bridderhaus.lu), where financial and logistical resources will be made available to them.

The prize is designed to support those in all disciplines of the visual arts whose talent and vision have recently stood out and who are ready to take the next step. In addition to rewarding their work, LEAP aims to raise the profile of the winning artist and establish them in the contemporary art world for the long term.

Mike Bourscheid: born in 1984 in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. Lives and works in Luxembourg and Brussels. Mike Bourscheid's practice, which combines sculpture and performance, explores his Luxembourg heritage and the absurdities of male stereotypes and patriarchal power. Using unusual prostheses and accessories, he embodies characters who are often fluid and full of humour. These ‘costume objects’ play an autonomous role, both as ritual signs and theatrical props, often at odds with their environment. His apprenticeship in a variety of skills, such as sewing and glasswork, challenges the gender stereotypes associated with work, inspired by the contrast between his seamstress mother and welder father.

Rozafa Elshan: born in Luxembourg in 1994 of Kosovar origin. Through photography, she explores the relationship between body, space and time, and also uses drawing, sculpture and installation to materialise mobile and changing forms. Her work seeks to inscribe a structure that is constantly being rewritten, experimenting with the boundaries between the body, space and the world. Using a variety of devices and rhythms, she questions the manipulation of structures and the bodily experience in an everyday landscape. Her installations, always adapted to the context, provoke an imbalance that encourages movement and a form of freedom by overcoming rigidities and personal certainties.

Jill Lahr: born in 1991 in Luxembourg. Lives and works in Hamburg. Jill Lahr creates interdisciplinary works combining painting, sculpture and installation. She collects and combines everyday objects (packaging, curiosities, souvenirs), taking them out of context to reveal their extraordinary aspect. Inspired by the cabinets of curiosities and Aby Warburg's Mnemosyne, she explores symbols, ambiguities and cultural contexts in site-specific installations in which architecture plays a central role. Her work highlights strange and humorous aspects of consumer culture and entertainment.

Lynn Scheidweiler: born in Luxembourg in 1994. Lynn Scheidweiler is a Luxembourg artist whose practice combines the performing and visual arts, with a strong social and participatory commitment. Her work explores the interaction between space, performance and the public, transforming testimonies into sculptures, paintings, installations and musical performances. A founding member of the Dünne Jungs collective, she develops participatory works, including the Landscape of Questions + Answers series. Her sculptures and installations are activated by visitor participation, embodying her belief that art is a living, interactive process. Her work has been presented in venues such as the Théâtre Royal Flamand (KVS) in Brussels and Les Rotondes in Luxembourg.

The four finalist artists are competing for the €12,500 prize, previously awarded to Sophie Jung (2016), Laurianne Bixhain (2018), Hisae Ikenaga (2020) and Stefania Crișan (2022). An exhibition showcasing their work will take place at the Konschthal from Friday 28 March to Sunday 27 April 2025. The winner will be announced at the vernissage on Friday 28 March 2025.

The jury for the LEAP25 - Luxembourg Encouragement for Artists Prize is made up of leading figures from Luxembourg, France, Belgium and Germany with proven expertise in contemporary art.

Marie de Gaulejac, artistic director of the visual arts 3 bis f | Centre d'arts contemporains d'intérêt national, Aix-en-Provence, France / Christian Mosar, director of the Konschthal Esch and the Bridderhaus, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg / Pierre-Olivier Rollin, director of the BPS22 Musée d'art de la Province de Hainaut, Charleroi, Belgium / Gilles Weidig, art collector, Luxembourg / Antje Weitzel, artistic director of the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany

Opening and award ceremony: Friday 28.03.2025.