Carla Rapoport Award

Now in its second year, the Carla Rapoport Award honours art that brings visibility to underrepresented voices, ideas, and communities. The winner of this award, named after The Lumen Prize’s visionary founder, is personally chosen by Carla herself and runs alongside our nine entry categories. 

Carla Rapoport launched The Lumen Prize in 2012 to recognise and celebrate artists using technology to communicate powerful themes and narratives. Over a decade later, her mission has evolved and deepened—but always with the same core intention: to uplift voices that need to be heard.

Last Year’s Winner: UchanSun

The inaugural winner of the Carla Rapoport Award was UchanSun with ‘AI Nüshu’, a remarkable project that merges feminism, computational linguistics, and cultural history. Inspired by Nüshu (女书), an ancient Chinese script used exclusively by women who were denied formal education, ‘AI Nüshu’ asked a compelling question:

Can AI learn from the legacy of marginalized women to build a new, defiant language of its own?

This interactive project trained AI agents to simulate how illiterate women in Hunan Province created their own script in secrecy. As these digital agents form a language based not on predetermined logic, but on environmental feedback and mutual observation, they echo the resilience of generations past while challenging the authority of human-dominated linguistic systems.

“I was surprised and deeply moved beyond words because I knew then that you truly understood the untold stories I wanted to share… As a fortunate Chinese female artist who can speak English and voice her thoughts to the world, I have a responsibility to raise awareness.
Your support has amplified my voice… I believe my work will speak for me—even when the AI in my pieces no longer uses human language, every byte will convey these untold stories.”

UchanSun, 2024 Winner of the Carla Rapoport Award.

Carrying the Legacy Forward

Carla Rapoport founded this award to recognize the kind of work that doesn’t just innovate—it resonates. Work that isn’t always spotlighted by the mainstream art world. Work that can shift the conversation.

“I was so incredibly humbled by the quality of work submitted last year,” Carla shared. “I wish I could give an award to everyone!”

Carla Rapoport, Founder of The Lumen Prize

As we launch the Carla Rapoport Award for its second year, we invite artists everywhere to bring forward the stories that haven’t yet been heard. Whether it’s through AI, VR, generative art, or something we’ve never seen before—this is your space to speak boldly and be seen.

Are you an artist working at the intersection of art and technology?

The Lumen Prize celebrates the very best art created with technology through a global competition. Now in its 14th year, The Lumen Prize has distributed more than $125,000 in prize money and created opportunities worldwide for the artists selected as finalists and winners.

Entries close May 23rd.