Artes Mundi, the UK’s largest art prize, has launched its global call for the nomination of artists.
The closing date for nominations is 26 June this year. Nominations are reviewed by two established international curators who select a shortlist of six artists for the biennial exhibition in 2012. One artist will receive the £40,000 Prize and all other shortlisted artists will receive a new award of £4,000 each.
The call for nominations begins an international research process that enables Artes Mundi to recognise and support contemporary visual artists whose work engages with social reality, lived experience and the human condition. It gives a platform to artists who are established in their country or region and are emerging internationally but who are under recognised in the UK. The two selectors will be announced during the nomination period, and the artist shortlist will be revealed this September.
Ben Borthwick, who joined Artes Mundi from Tate Modern last autumn, revealed that the organisation has formed a new long term partnership with Mostyn in Llandudno. In future, following each Artes Mundi cycle, one of the shortlisted artists will be invited to present a solo exhibition in Mostyn’s recently refurbished galleries the year after the Prize. He said:
“This partnership with Mostyn enables us to broaden the access of audiences in North Wales to Artes Mundi. It also deepens our ongoing support of artists: the Prize recognises exceptional achievement for an existing body of work, while this new opportunity to develop a solo exhibition demonstrates our commitment to the development of artists’ practices.”
Martin Barlow, Director of Mostyn, said:
“Artes Mundi working with galleries is a significant development for the visual arts in Wales. Mostyn looks forward to creating an exciting joint project with Artes Mundi for 2013 as the start of an important and evolving long-term collaboration.”
Artes Mundi 5 will be installed in almost 800 square metres of new contemporary art galleries at Wales’ National Museum of Art under the roof of National Museum Cardiff, reinforcing Artes Mundi’s longstanding partnership with the Museum. Ben Borthwick said:
“The National Museum of Art has created exceptionally beautiful spaces that sensitively combine a white cube aesthetic with the building’s various architectural histories. This is a clear statement of the role of contemporary art in the Museum’s vision and Artes Mundi is proud that the positive audience reaction to its first four exhibitions has contributed so much to the development of that vision over the last decade.”
Artes Mundi is an international arts organisation based in Wales. Established in 2002, Artes Mundi is committed to supporting groundbreaking contemporary visual artists from around the world whose work engages with social reality, lived experience and the human condition.
Every two years, working with artists, galleries, art institutions, curators and the British Council, Artes Mundi seeks nominations of artists known in their own country or region but who are still gaining wider international recognition. Two independent selectors review the nominations and select six artists for the biennial Exhibition and Prize.
The 12 week Exhibition features a body of work from each of the shortlisted artists and takes place at the National Museum of Art in Cardiff. A separate panel of five judges awards the Artes Mundi Prize which is one of the world’s largest cash prizes in the visual arts. From 2012, Artes Mundi will award £40,000 to the winner and £4,000 each to the other shortlisted artists. A new partnership with Mostyn will also see one of the shortlisted artists present a solo show the year after the exhibition.
The first four Artes Mundi Exhibitions have been a popular success with diverse audiences and, particularly, with young people. Public and curatorial events and education programmes are offered in Wales during each biennial and further touring and commissioning strands are being developed.
In 2010 the Artes Mundi 4 Prize was awarded to Yael Bartana who will represent Poland at the 2011 Venice Biennale. The first Artes Mundi Prize was awarded in 2004 to Xu Bing, a Chinese born artist living in New York. In 2006 the Artes Mundi 2 Prize was awarded to the Finnish artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila, and in 2008 to the Indian artist NS Harsha.
Artes Mundi is publicly funded by the Arts Council of Wales and by Cardiff City Council.
