At the 2025 Awards organized for the first time this year by the Sanat Tarihi Derneği, ArtDog Istanbul was deemed worthy of the Culture–Arts Media & Publishing Award of the Year for its publishing activities in the field of culture and the arts. The award was accepted by ArtDog Istanbul’s Editor-in-Chief, Şebnem Kırmacı.
The 2025 Awards organized by the Sanat Tarihi Derneği found their recipients at a ceremony held this year. At the event, which aims to make visible individuals and institutions producing work in art history and related disciplines, ArtDog Istanbul was awarded the Culture–Arts Media & Publishing Award of the Year.
The award to ArtDog Istanbul was granted on the grounds of its production of high-quality cultural journalism, making the contemporary art agenda visible, and contributing to the intellectual groundwork of the field through critical and research-based content. The award was accepted by ArtDog Istanbul Editor-in-Chief Şebnem Kırmacı, and presented by Sera Sade, representative of the Faruk Sade Art Fund.
Rationale for the Award
ArtDog Istanbul’s selection for the Culture–Arts Media & Publishing Award of the Year was determined by its research-based, high editorial-quality publishing line and its production of content that nourishes critical thinking in the field of culture and the arts. The platform’s success in delivering the contemporary art agenda to wide audiences, making new artists and practices visible, and operating with a journalism ethic grounded in sources and references were among the key points highlighted in the evaluation.
The jury also cited ArtDog Istanbul’s innovative publishing approach that effectively uses digital platforms, its engagement with the international art agenda, its inclusive editorial perspective spanning different disciplines and geographies, and its regular, sustainable publishing practice as reasons for the award. Visual and technical quality, user experience, public accessibility, and the impact it has created within the culture–arts field were also influential in the assessment.
Jury Evaluation Criteria for the “Culture–Arts Media & Publishing Award of the Year”
- Content Quality and Editorial Level
• Are news items, articles, or programs research-based?
• Is there accuracy of information, use of sources, and documentation?
• Is the editorial quality (headline, language, visuals, layout) professional?
Criteria: Publications, video archives, articles, program recordings - Contribution to the Arts Field
• Does it bring art to broad audiences?
• Does it make new artists, works, and exhibitions visible?
• Does it foster critical thinking, art literacy, and cultural awareness? - Journalistic and Research Ethics
• No manipulation of information, hate speech, or sensationalism
• Neutrality and respectful tone in reporting
• Compliance with copyright and source attribution rules - Innovative Publishing
• Digital publishing, interactive media, video, podcast, festival, interview, documentary
• Creative and high-quality culture–arts communication via social media
• Adaptation to new platforms such as NFTs, AR/VR, or digital exhibitions - International Visibility and Collaboration
• Visibility in international media
• Joint projects, translated publications, foreign-language content
• Engagement with the global art agenda - Accessibility – Public Benefit
• Success in reaching broad audiences
• Subtitles, sign language, audio description infrastructures suitable for accessibility
• Production of free/accessible cultural knowledge - Inclusivity
• Providing visibility for women, LGBTQI+, minorities, migrants, children, disadvantaged groups
• Inclusion of different disciplines and geographies
• Balance between center and periphery - Consistency and Continuity
• Regular publishing, stable content, continuity
• Developing projects into lasting programs rather than one-off initiatives - Social Impact and Feedback
• Creating public debate around culture and the arts
• Reputation among critics and experts
• Audience/reader engagement - Visual and Technical Quality (Digital/Publishing)
• Video/audio quality
• Design, graphics, archive organization
• User experience
A total of 11 awards were presented, covering a broad spectrum from art historiography to architecture, curatorship, museology, and media–publishing. Nominees were determined based on proposals by the Sanat Tarihi Derneği Board and jury members, while winners were finalized through a scoring method.
The jury for the 2025 awards consisted of Prof. Dr. Fethiye Erbay, Prof. Dr. Hasan Fırat Diker, Prof. Dr. Ferhat Özgür, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fırat Arapoğlu, Dr. Derya Yücel, Dr. Nazlı Pektaş, Architect Seda Özen Bilgili, Esra Civelek, and Şerif Yaşar.
Other Awards Presented at the Ceremony
Lifetime Achievement Award (Art Historian)
Prof. Dr. Selçuk Mülayim
Lifetime Achievement Award (Artist)
İpek Duben
Lifetime Achievement Award (Architect)
Han Tümertekin
Artist of the Year
Cengiz Tekin
Curator of the Year
Beral Madra
Art Writer of the Year
Prof. Dr. Nermin Saybaşılı
Young Artist of the Year
Cansu Sönmez
Museum of the Year
İş Bankası Painting and Sculpture Museum
Restoration Project of the Year
Çinili Hamam
Culture–Arts Media & Publishing of the Year
ArtDog Istanbul
Jury Special Award
İBB Miras
