Afshan Daneshvar
paper positions award winner 2024
Afshan Daneshvar’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in her choice of paper as a medium, a material that embodies both fragility and resilience. Paper, with its ability to record, preserve and yet disintegrate over time, serves as a metaphor for memory, identity and transformation in her work. Through different series, Afshan has explored its qualities — its capacity to be shaped, layered and reconstructed — allowing her to navigate personal and collective histories with sensitivity and precision.
In “The Red Line” series by Afshan Daneshvar, newspapers are transient yet authoritative; they inform, document and shape narratives. At the same time, they are ephemeral, discarded as quickly as they are consumed. By folding, layering, and gluing these printed pages, Afshan extends their lifespan, transforming fleeting news into enduring forms—not just physically, but as artworks that demand attention and contemplation. Their permanence is no longer tied to their original function as sources of information but rather to their aesthetic and conceptual reinvention. The recontextualization of these newspapers as sculptural works highlights the overlooked beauty in the mundane, prompting a deeper reflection on what is deemed disposable — both in material culture and in the narratives that shape collective memory.
Discover the works by paper positions award winner Afshan Daneshvar at paper positions berlin, booth → #71
Text: Orkideh Daroodi
Zuza Dolega
paper positions award winner 2025
Zuza Dolega / Zuzanna Seweryna Dolega (born in 1990 in Gdynia) is a highly versatile visual artist, working in pyrography, drawing, collage, concrete poetry, installations, textiles, miniatures, and analog projections. She graduated from the Painting Department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, where she works as an assistant in the Studio Drawing, Conceptual Drawing, and Narrative Drawing studios.
Since 2012, Zuza has been one of the few artists in Poland specializing in pyrography, which she combines with paper art, textiles, and site-specific installations that play with light and shadow. She also creates collages, asemic writing, blackout and redacted poetry, as well as monumental cut-out installations. Her interests include neuroaesthetics and synesthesia in art.
Zuza Dolega is represented by MOLSKI gallery.
Discover the works by paper positions award winner Zuza Dolega at paper positions berlin 2026!
a look back: paper positions berlin 2025
At the beginning of May, paper positions berlin opened its doors for the ninth time – for the first time in the main hall of the former Berlin-Tempelhof Airport. In the new, spacious location, 65 galleries from 18 countries presented works by 208 artists from 36 nations, and over the four days, more than 16,000 visitors attended, around 3,000 of whom were there for the opening.
The clear, open structure of the historic building provided plenty of space for the works on paper, and despite the larger venue, the fair retained its familiar salon character. Between the exhibition stands, conversations took place among collectors, galleries, institutions, and embassies, and the fair days were marked by both exchanges and sales.
On the first day, several awards were presented: the Berlin gallery Kremers received the LEUE & NILL-Award for its presentation, while the Paper Art Award went to Verena Freyschmidt, Kulu Ojha, and Taiyo Mori; their works will become part of the “Haus des Papiers” collection. The paper positions award was given to the artist Zuza Dolega, who will have a solo presentation at the fair in 2025. The 2024 winner, Afshan Daneshvar, presented her new works solo this year.
The fair was complemented by the special exhibition Ceramic Positions, presented on the first floor, offering a view of artistic positions with ceramics and expanding the fair’s material focus.
new in 2025: ceramic positions
our new highlight at paper positions berlin 2025!
With the curated special exhibition ceramic positions, we would like to set another special accent at paper positions berlin. Ceramics as a material has not only undergone a new development among young artists for some time now - it is also arousing ever greater interest among collectors and institutions, as this medium is capable of constantly exploring the boundaries of art in new ways.
With works by Hans-Peter Adamski, Anna Arnskötter, Fritz Bornstück, Veronique Bourgoin, Isabelle Dyckerhoff, Ute Essig, Alberto Gianfreda, Nonna Hoogland, Nadira Husain, Susanna Inglada, Magda Krawcewicz, Liene Mackus, Georgij Melnikov, Miriam Schahabian, Štěpánka Sigmundová, Malwine Stauss, Juli Susin und Dorothee Wenz.
looking back at paper positions berlin 2024
“The airy salon format in the historic hall of the Telekom Hauptstadtrepräsentanz underlines the fact that a trade fair does not impress with its size.” - tagesspiegel 26.4.
In 2024, 60 galleries from 11 countries presented more than 150 artistic positions and 3 awards were presented.
The four days were characterised by positive reports from gallery owners and visitors. They all spoke enthusiastically about the great, open and familiar atmosphere, about how many new contacts they were able to make over the fair days and how many young collectors in particular made purchases. Exhibitors were able to report very good sales, and many galleries were almost completely sold out by the end of the fair.
The LEUE&NILL Award was given to the duo-presentation of Henrik Eiben reacting to Lyonel Feininger's works shown by SCHWARZ CONTEMPORARY and Thole Rotermund Kunsthandel. The winners of this year's Paper Art Award are
Asareh Akasheh (Sammlung und Residency Olivier von Schulthess), Leonie Mertes (Galerie Heike Strelow), Rikuo Ueda (Mikiko Sato Gallery), Noriko Ambe (AOA;87), Hiroyuki Abe (Mikiko Sato Gallery).
Looking back at paper positions berlin 2023
"High quality, flooded with light, affordable for average earners and with a genuinely warm atmosphere: "Paper Positions", the spring spin-off of the Berlin art fair "Positions Berlin" and with appearances in five European cities, is one of the more cheerful art fairs." - tip Berlin
With over 16,000 visitors, the art fair paper positions and the participating galleries can draw a positive conclusion from the seventh edition of the fair in Berlin. For four days, visitors were able to go on a paper discovery tour, expand their collections or purchase their first works in the atrium of Deutsche Telekom Hauptstadtrepräsentanz. On Thursday evening, Galerie Malte Uekermann Kunsthandel received the LEUE&NILL Award for Jens Hanke's solo presentation; artists Ursula Sax (Semjon Contemporary), Gisoo Kim (mianki.Gallery), Amparo Sard (Galerie Anita Beckers), Brian Dettmer (Galerie Commeter) and Taniguchi Kenichiro (Mikiko Sato Gallery) were honoured with the PAPER ART AWARD.
paper positions award 2023
The winner of the paper positions award 2023 is Katharina Hinsberg (Galerie Werner Klein) The award is realised by POSITIONS Berlin and supported by Kaiserwetter.
The works by Katharina Hinsberg presented by Galerie Werner Klein (Cologne) are captivating in their lightness and daintiness. Hinsberg delicately outlines the paper with a red pencil and meticulously cuts along the lines with a scalpel. Her wafer-thin paper frameworks hang delicately from thin needles. In their playful and subtle manner, Hinsberg’s works leave an impression on the viewer that not only encourages a sensitive interaction with them, but also promotes greater sensitivity.