The MO_Kunstpreis 2026 was awarded this year to performance artist Nezaket Ekici. Working around themes such as identity, religion, the body, and everyday culture, Ekici employs a multidisciplinary media approach. In her performances, the artist uses different methods in terms of content and tone.
In her statement about the award, Regina Selter, Director of the Ostwall Museum, said: “With Nezaket Ekici, an artist from the region who is active internationally is coming to the Ostwall Museum. Her work is in perfect alignment with our fundamental principle of bringing art and life together. By addressing a variety of themes with strong connections to everyday life, her works offer new perspectives on social issues and contribute to social dialogue through art.”
Ekici sometimes adopts a humorous language in her works. In the video performance Kaffeklatsch (2019), she explores the feminist potential of “Kaffeekränzchen” culture as a space of exchange. At times a poetic approach comes to the fore; in the performance Celebration (2021), she transforms the space of art and life into a holistic artwork using colorful tapes. In her more directly political works, she focuses on the human being; Essence_Turkey (2024) is among the recent examples of this line.
About Nezaket Ekici
Nezaket Ekici was born in 1970 in Kırşehir and migrated with her family to Duisburg at the age of three. She studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and completed a master’s degree in art education at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. She then became a student of Marina Abramović at the University of Fine Arts Braunschweig.
To date, the artist has taken part in more than 300 performances and installations in over 180 cities across 70 countries on four continents. Ekici also has a special connection to Dortmund; in 2024/25 she served on the advisory board for the monument planned for the city’s guest workers.
MO_Kunstpreis
Awarded for the 13th time by the Friends of the Ostwall Museum, the MO_Kunstpreis with the theme “Dada, Fluxus and Their Consequences” has a total value of 20,000 euros this year. Half of the prize is funded by the Friends of the Ostwall Museum (MO), and the other half by cultural institutions in Dortmund. The award is linked to an acquisition for the MO collection.
