Slovenian intermedia artist Maja Smrekar is the recipient of the 2024 Follow Fluxus, a grant for young international artists given out by the German city of Wiesbaden and the Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, a centre of contemporary art.

The €10,000 grant comes with a three-month residency in Wiesbaden, the capital of Hesse, and an independent exhibition at the Nassauischer Kunstverein.

The five-member jury unanimously picked Smrekar from among 54 applications. It said the artist's projects cover a broad spectrum of artistic formats, from hybrid arts and performance to photography.

"She combines practice-based research that explores the potential of current technology and science, negotiating issues such as ecofeminism, technology and social structures. She shares her findings through lecture-performances and written texts," the jury said.

Smrekar "explores the connections between humans, animals and technology, drawing on a wealth of media. Long-term performances and micro-performativity that engage with human and non-human processes create intense images," it said.

The goal of the grant is to support young international artists whose works suggest ideas inherent to the Fluxus art movement in order to keep the art current alive.

Born in 1978, Smrekar earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana.

She is best known in the general public for her project K-9_topology, which involved her breastfeeding a dog.

The work earned her the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica in 2017 as well as the Prešeren Foundation Award in Slovenia in 2018.

But it generated significant controversy in Slovenia as conservatives decried the work and the artist as "degenerate".