Students at art universities in Romania are invited to participate in the second edition of the NEW WAVE Art Prize competition, a project initiated by the Bog’Art Foundation, which aims to support and promote the new generations of artists.
This year’s theme, “Human Value at the Beginning of the Age of AI”, brings to the fore the relationship between humans and technology in a global context marked by accelerated transformation.
Students are encouraged to answer, through a work of art, some essential questions: How do we build our identity in a world where the border between the real and the virtual is becoming more and more diffuse? What changes in the artist’s creative process? Is artificial intelligence a tool or a partner? Can technology understand emotion or just simulate it?
Proposals can take the form of a painting, drawing, sculpture or installation and must reflect a personal vision of how artificial intelligence is redefining human identity and relationships.
Entries are made by sending, until May 22, 2026, the concept of the work (in the form of a rendering, model or other relevant material), accompanied by a descriptive text, CV and portfolio (PDF, maximum 25 MB), to the address [email protected].
Following the judging, 8 finalists will be selected and will each receive a budget of 500 euros for the production of the works, which must be completed by June 30, 2026. The works will be exhibited during the opening and the awards ceremony on July 7, 2026, organized at the Sandwich Neurohope Gallery in Bucharest, where the winners of the 3 prizes, each worth 2,000 euros, will be announced.
The NEW WAVE Art Prize jury, 2026 edition, is made up of Bogdan Doicescu – Founding Member, Bog’Art Foundation, Catinca Tăbăcaru – Gallerist, Co-Director of RAD Fair, Daniela Pălimariu – Artist, Co-Director of RAD Fair, Ștefan Sava – Artist, Co-Founder Salonul de Proiecte, Lorena Brează – Architect, Founder of The Challenge Academy and Mihnea Mircan – Curator, author and essayist.
“The NEW WAVE Art Prize project is designed as a platform for dialogue between artists, the public and contemporary realities, and gives young creators the opportunity to express their perspectives on the world we live in. We want this year’s theme – “Human Value at the Beginning of the AI Age” – to open an authentic dialogue about what defines us as humans in an increasingly technological world. We invite students to use artificial intelligence as a tool for exploration and bring in the foreground, emotion, imperfection and personal perspective. We believe that the future of art lies precisely in this creative tension between the human and the technological,” declares Bogdan Doiescu, Founding Member of the Bog’Art Foundation.
At the previous edition, 57 projects were entered, of which 7 were selected for the final exhibition. The winner of the 2025 edition, Ștefania Iakab, impressed the jury with the sculptural series “Alien Chic”, being rewarded with a scholarship offered by the Bog’Art Foundation.
NEW WAVE Art Prize is a project created by the Bog’Art Foundation to discover and support talented students from art universities in Romania. The competition provides a professional framework for affirmation, facilitating the transition from concept to the production of a work exposed to the general public.
