As the year draws to a close, we’re incredibly proud to announce the very first recipient of the Boom Saloon Arts and Social Change Award – the outcome of a poignant new partnership with our peers at VAS.

Selected from 434 works exhibited at the VAS Open Exhibition, Sana Obaid, a UK-based multidisciplinary visual artist, has been awarded the inaugural Boom Saloon Arts and Social Change Award for work of exceptional emotional power and social urgency.

As a mother, Sana has been deeply affected by witnessing the daily suffering and deaths of children shared across social media. In response, her studio became a space shaped by maternal instinct and grief.
Her work confronts irreparable loss and the vulnerability of children living through violence.

Influenced by haunting images of orphaned children deprived of safety, home and maternal warmth, Sana undertakes a meticulous and painstaking creative process to give form to grief. Creating art has become a solemn act of mourning and prayer.

On receiving the award, Sana shared, “This recognition means a lot more than I can express in words; it encourages me to continue creating from a place of purpose, questioning, tenderness and truth. Witnessing people connect with my work, pause in front of it and share their reflections was profoundly moving.”

The Boom Saloon Arts and Social Change Award was announced at ‘The Thread That Pulls,’ which celebrates artists whose work embodies the power of sustained attention — where slow, deliberate making transforms ideas, materials and narratives into something lasting.

The VAS Open Exhibition is now open at National Galleries Scotland, The Mound, Edinburgh, and runs until 2 January.