Thomas Kellner nominated for State's Award Manufactum 2025

Düsseldorf. Fine art photographer Thomas Kellner has been nominated for the Manufactum State Prize for Applied Arts and Design in Crafts with his cover image of the Werthenbach Chapel School. All nominated works can be seen from June 21, 2025 in the exhibition at the Museum of Art and Cultural History Dortmund. The award ceremony will take place on the same day in Dortmund City Hall. The Manufactum State Prize is awarded every two years and is considered one of the country's most traditional awards. It is awarded by the North Rhine-Westphalian state government. The prize is endowed with a total of 60,000 euros and this year, too, six categories will be honored: Image and Print Media, Clothing and Textile, Furniture, Sculpture, Object and Jewelry. The exhibition runs until 21.09.2025.

Thomas Kellner's nominated picture is part of the Chapel Schools series. The chapel schools are traditional buildings in the Siegerland region. Kellner's works emphasize the versatility of these buildings. The project was supported during research and realization by grants from the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and Neustart Kultur of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media by the Stiftung Kulturwerk of VG Bild-Kunst. In 2022, a catalog on Kellner's project for the chapel schools was published by seltmann publishers.

This year's exhibition venue for the Manufactum State Prize NRW is the Museum of Art and Cultural History (MKK for short) in Dortmund. Thomas Kellner was already nominated for the last time the State Prize was awarded at the MAKK Cologne in 2023. Back then for the half-timbered houses project, which is a kind of predecessor to this year's nomination.

Manufactum
Staatspreis für Angewandte Kunst und Design im Handwerk
June 21 – September 21
Museum for Art and Cultural History
Dortmund, Germany

Exhibiting artists: Michael Bause, Julian Braun, Peter Eckartz, Vivian Fischer, Anna Lena Gangluff, Serin Gatzweiler, John Gerard, Harry Handschuh, Marcus Janssens, Thomas Kellner, Hendrik Klein, Julian Klein, Benedikt Demmer, Henk Kosche, Christoph Lehmann, Karsten Lindemann, Martin Niekämper, Mara Tröger, Anja Zurawski, Johannes Twielemeier, Theresa Wedemeyer, Lucia Bernadette,  Zettler, Marie-Christine Chammas, Evelyn Dalibor, Barbara Esser, Alexander Fröhlich, Elmar Heimbach, Heike Besse, Beate Kortländer, Louis Lachmann, Bokeum Lee, Simon Licht, Ulrike Lindner, Ulla Meiners, Gabi Mett, Stefan Schulz, Katrin Sundmäker, Estelle Willers, Georg Tony Braun, Nils Brüninghaus, Sebastian Dreser, Jakob Gellinek, Hubertus Groppe, Christian Hütterott, Raphael Klug, Sarah Linder, Till Mathiasen, Lars Nicke, Noah Niggemeier, Marilena Peil, Cornelius Richter, Jule Rombey, Jana Rühl, Lara Maria Schulze Scholle, Maximilian Skiba, Johannes Teckentrup, Paul Vietz, Ida Westrick, Esther Wiesing, Leah Wiesing, Malte Zaversnik, Moritz Angerpointner-Sonntag, Steve Busch, Thomas Frische, Sabine Gorski, Elisabeth Holde, Thomas Klegin, Konrad Koppold, Detlef Kunen, Christof Lungwitz, Lea Mader, Maria Pohlkemper, Gitta Radtke, Ines Rother, Christine Ruff, Birgit Rumpf, Felix Scharstein, Angelika Schledz, Markus Schürmeyer, Stephan Siebers, Anna Staudt, Verena Stieger, Lia Tietz Muñoz, Yoana Tuzharova, Luca Leon Wasmus, Helga Weihs, Silke Wellmeier, Anke Wolf, Anna-Lisa Wunderle, Zohair Zouirech, Leandra Anschütz, Michael Berger, Nina Drees, Benedikt Förster-Heyne, Michaela Gottstein, Matthias Grosche, Ulrike Hahne, Katja Hinze-Thüs, Beru Inou, Carola Kosche, Monica Neßeler, Paula Ruff, Claudia Schäfer, Uta K. Becker, Maike Burghoff, Lucia Effer-Neidhart, Dominikus Gehrigk, Philipp Greve, Christiane Grinat, Isabel Hamm, Jan-Peter Hilger, Jonathan Hilger, Susanne Jacobs, Angelika Jansen, Mathias Kirchhoff, Jimu Kobayashi, Eileen Pannott, Jonas Ruatti, Eva Marie Sänger, Hauke Schmidt, Silke Schulz, Mira Vespo, Corvin Walter, Annette Wibral, Maria Wieding-Kalz, Rosendahl-Holtwick, Yu Yu.

Museum for Art and Cultural History
Hansastraße 3
44137 Dortmund
Germany

Newsletter Manufactum 2025