The selection also reflects the intergenerational character of the international scene, bringing together artists and makers at different stages of their careers - the youngest finalist is 28 years old and the oldest is 74, creating a dialogue between emerging perspectives, established practices, and different forms of knowledge.

Dyalvane’s selected work iThwasa (The One Who Is Blossoming) (2024), forms part of the collaborative iNtwaso series by the artist and his partner, Nkuthazo Alexis Dyalvane and explores the spiritual journey of initiation towards becoming an ‘igqirha’ (traditional Xhosa healer). The vessel embodies a state of becoming: a threshold between ancestral inheritance and lived experience, where healing begins through listening, learning, and the transmission of knowledge across generations. Its ceramic form is adorned with cow hair, leather, and grass, referencing ritual regalia worn during initiation and signalling an evolving relationship between body, spirit, and community. Rooted in Xhosa cosmology while resonating with universal experiences of transformation, iThwasa positions clay as a living repository of memory and care. Rather than treating belonging as a fixed condition, the work understands it as something continually cultivated through ritual, kinship, and the shared inheritance of knowledge.

Fellow finalists come from countries including India, Hong Kong, Greece, Norway, Poland and others. They include Arun Baburaj, Mak Gerald, Agalis Manessi, Trude Westby Nordmark, and Krzysztof Strzelecki, to name but a few. Prizes include the main prize of €10k, as well as several international residencies.