Vadim Fishkin has been named the first winner of the Seletti Wonder Award, a new prize created by Italian design company Seletti together with Artissima, the Turin fair for contemporary art. Fishkin, who was born in Russia in 1965 and now lives and works in Ljubljana, was presented at the fair by Galleria Gregor Podnar in its Back to the Future section, which is devoted to rediscovered figures from recent art history.

The jury chose Fishkin for Lighthouse, a work centred on the faint flicker of a single bulb. In its citation, the panel said that amid the visual overload of an art fair, it was that small pulse of light that held its attention. At a moment when artificial intelligence is forcing questions about what remains distinctly human, the jurors argued, Fishkin's work offers an answer: for years he has turned ordinary phenomena into quietly extraordinary experiences, using science in the service of poetry.

The jury brought together artists Eva and Franco Mattes, collector and RETI president Ilenia Paneghini, radio presenter Marisa Passera, and curator and journalist Maria Chiara Valacchi. As winner, Fishkin receives a research grant and the chance to develop a special project with Seletti. The outcome will stay secret for a year and be revealed at Artissima 2027, when the prize returns for its second edition.

Seletti's art director, Stefano Seletti, said he was eager to begin working with Fishkin, noting that the prize reverses his usual way of working: instead of choosing collaborators himself, he will follow where the jury's intuition leads. Founded more than sixty years ago as an importer of arts and crafts from China, Seletti has grown into an international design brand, and the award marks its first direct move into the contemporary art fair world.