The Rubin selects India-based Khadhok – Tibetan Artists’ Collective as the winner of the 2025 Rubin Museum Himalayan Art Prize, alongside the funding of 15 art and research projects in its second cycle of annual Rubin Grants. The Rubin Art Prize is a $30,000 unrestricted cash prize and the largest international award in support of contemporary art related to the Himalayan regions. Together the Rubin Art Prize and Rubin Grants will provide $230K of direct support to artists and researchers working in the Himalayan region and internationally. These initiatives demonstrate the Rubin’s enhanced commitment in its new model to nurturing the next generation of artists and scholars dedicated to expanding awareness and understanding of Himalayan art.
“Working with Himalayan art and living artists has been part of our approach since the Rubin was founded in 2004,” says Jorrit Britschgi, Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art Executive Director. “As a museum without walls we hope to increase visibility and awareness of Tibetan and Himalayan art globally. The recipient of the 2025 Rubin Art Prize, Khadhok, shares this aspiration and has been leading exceptional work in Dharamshala in a short amount of time by creating space for artists to share their work, and to enable dialogues and moments of connection within the local Tibetan community. I am certain the impact of their work will continue to expand in years to come.”
The Rubin Museum Himalayan Art Prize was established in 2024 to support living artists and collectives who have made a mark in creative and critically relevant dialogues between Himalayan art and contemporary life. The winner is selected by a jury of Rubin staff members and experts in the field. In 2024 the inaugural winner was Tenzin Gyurmey Dorjee.
“We were deeply moved when we first heard about the award,” said the founding members of Khadhok, an India-based artist collective that is a platform for Tibetan artistic exchange, community engagement, and youth empowerment. “As a young collective, being recognized by an institution with such a long history in Himalayan art makes us feel truly seen and valued. This recognition strengthens our confidence and encourages us to keep growing. Most importantly, it changes what is possible for Khadhok, allowing us to build a strong foundation that truly lasts and supports artists and our community for many years to come.”
"I met the Khadhok collective last year in Dharamsala and have followed their projects since. To see them honored with the Rubin Himalayan Art Prize 2025 is profoundly moving,” says Tibetan singer-songwriter and artist YESHE. “Khadhok’s practice doesn’t just exhibit but builds, creating spaces of intergenerational dialogue that give young Tibetan artists in exile both mentorship and a platform for experimentation, a form of resistance to erasure. Their work embodies the courage of Himalayan artists who create in the face of displacement and exclusion, offering resilience and tenderness from spaces where stories are too often silenced. As a Tibetan artist, I see their work as a vital affirmation that Himalayan presence endures not as echoes of history, but as living expressions of today.”
The annual Rubin Grants program was launched in 2024 in support of art and research initiatives that aim to promote the rich cultural legacy and living traditions of the Himalayan regions. As part of the second award cycle, the Rubin received 132 letters of inquiry of which 15 projects were selected with grant sizes ranging from $3,000 to $25,000, depending on the scale, impact, and needs of each project. Selected projects will advance and generate further knowledge of this developing area of focus through a new conservation training program in Mongolia; documentation of historic art in central Bhutan and Nepal; research that focuses on the provenance of objects from a Tibetan Buddhist temple in Darjeeling, India; Tibetan visual art teaching resources and materials for educators; a two-channel video installation in northern India that explores the Tibetan Buddhist concept of interdependence; new exhibitions, multimedia projects, and much more.
“It is exciting to see the global response from emerging and established scholars, artists, and nonprofits from over 30 countries applying to our grants program," says Michelle Bennett Simorella, Rubin Museum Director of Global Projects & Collections. “It exemplifies the critical need for this resource that can empower scholars and creatives to dedicate their time to pursue projects that will give greater understanding and visibility to the rich cultural legacy and living traditions of the Himalayan regions.”
