News
Gloria Oyarzábal wins the MAPFRE Foundation's KBr photography prize
Glorya Oyarzábal is the winner of the MAPFRE Foundation's KBr Photography Award. The Spanish photographer and visual artist has been awarded the 3rd KBr Photo Award, one of the most prestigious recognitions in the international photography scene, for her project “Appunti per un'Orestíade africana_una democracia en fatiga II” (Notes for an African Oresteia_A Democracy in Fatigue II). This work, which combines profound aesthetic reflection with a critical perspective on contemporary social and political processes, captivated the jury with its originality and its ability to engage with collective memory from an innovative visual perspective.
The award, which includes a €25,000 prize, represents a significant boost to the artist's career and confirms her position as one of the most unique and engaged voices in contemporary visual art. In addition to the monetary prize, the artist will have the opportunity to exhibit her work at the KBr Fundación MAPFRE space in Barcelona, where the winning project will be displayed alongside a monograph documenting her creative and conceptual process.
The KBr Photo Award, created by the MAPFRE Foundation, aims to support the work of photographers who, through their artistic practice, contribute to expanding the limits of contemporary photographic language and generating new interpretations of reality.
“Notes for an African Oresteia: A Democracy in Fatigue II” is an essay that explores rewriting and (self-)questioning as tools for rethinking our relationship with justice and community. The work invites reflection on how to decolonize image and technology, proposing forms of justice that depend neither on gods nor algorithms, but on the capacity to listen. Amidst the noise of the system, paths open up for alternative narratives, diverse ways of being a community, and different ways of making decisions.
The award, decided unanimously, highlights the project's relevance for its postcolonial research and reflection on African countries, recognizing its ability to address profound historical, political, and social issues through photography. From a total of 430 projects submitted, the jury selected the proposals of Juan Valbuena and Juan Brenner as finalists, along with the winning project, underscoring the quality and diversity of contemporary perspectives that converge in this third edition of the KBr Photo Award.
