The public announcement was made at a press conference on 29.2.2024 at feinkunst e.V., at which Oliver Rohde, Chairman of feinkunst e.V., and performance artist Simon Pfeffel, jury member and winner of the first Hannes Malte Mahler Art Prize, as well as Reinhard Spieler, Director of Sprengel Museum Hannover and also a jury member, paid tribute to the artist and explained the decision. The exhibition opening of the six shortlisted candidates had already taken place the previous evening. The presentation of the realized project is planned for summer 2026. As with the first edition of the prize, a benefit concert by internationally acclaimed pianist Igor Levit will take place as part of the presentation in just over two years' time. Igor Levit was a close friend of the late artist Hannes Malte Mahler, to whom the prize is dedicated. Part of the prize will be generated from the proceeds of this benefit concert.

The jury's decision
"Farzane Vaziritabar activates the urban space (...) with her orientation on the "Red Thread" of Hanover, which is, however, charged and interpreted in a completely different way by the spectrum of her planned activities at 38 locations. Her interventions range from sound pieces and performances to installations, sculpture, video works and interactive elements. She thus not only covers a large media field of contemporary art, but also (...) deals with a wealth of socially relevant topics with a focus on the central aspect of increasingly fluid identities. The refreshing humor that repeatedly flashes up in her works and a generally non-dogmatic, but rather playful approach to her themes also shows a productive proximity to the artistic self-image of Hannes Malte Mahler, without copying him."

Prof. Stephan Berg, Director Kunstmuseum Bonn on behalf of the entire jury, consisting of Konstanze Beckedorf, Head of Cultural Affairs of the City of Hanover, Prof. em. Dr. Anne-Marie Bonnet, University of Bonn, Prof. Wolfgang Ellenrieder, Braunschweig University of Art, Dr. Reinhard Spieler, Director Sprengel Museum Hanover, Paula Schwerdtfeger, art historian and curator, Hanover, and Simon Pfeffel, internationally active performance artist and 2020 award winner, Pforzheim. 

The international Hannes Malte Mahler - it is art® art prize is awarded every four years by the non-profit organization feinkunst e.V. in cooperation with the Sprengel Museum Hannover. Launched in 2020, it commemorates the tragically deceased Hanoverian artist Hannes Malte Mahler (1968-2016), a master student of Marina Abramović. The funding associated with the prize is aimed at both young and established artists, combined with an invitation to realize a project in the urban space of Hanover and/or at feinkunst e.V. and the Sprengel Museum Hannover. With prize money of 15,000 euros and a project and production budget of up to 105,000 euros, the prize is one of the most highly endowed art prizes in Germany. The second call for entries for the prize closed at the end of September 2023. The artist and namesake of the prize, Hannes Malte Mahler (1968-2016), was an artist living in Hanover and a graduate of the Braunschweig University of Art. His work included drawing, painting, illustration, sculpture, installation, performance and photography. In his bustling personality, art and life combined to form an inseparable unit. His studio was a cultural meeting place for Hanover's art and creative scene.