120 works from around the world are the finalists of the 13th edition of the competition, illustrating the current state of international contemporary art.
The exhibition was curated by Igor Zanti with the collaboration of the twelve international jurors who evaluated and selected all the candidates who entered the competition from September to December 2018: Maxa Zoller, Eva González-Sancho, Vasili Tsereteli, Flavio Arensi, Alessandra Tiddia, Richard Noyce, Simone Pallotta, Enrico Stefanelli, Filippo Andreatta, Alfonso Femia, Danilo Premoli, and Mattias Givell.
The exhibition is held in the prestigious spaces of the Venice Arsenale.
The thirteenth edition of the Arte Laguna Prize will kick off the 2019 art season in Venice with the opening of the finalists’ exhibition on March 16th. Featuring more awards than ever before, it will unveil a comprehensive survey of contemporary art: 120 artworks from around the world, ranging from painting, sculpture, and installation, photography and digital graphics to design, virtual art, video art and short films, performance, urban art, and land art.
The 13th Arte Laguna Prize Exhibition will be open to the public until April 25th, with a rich program of guided tours, children’s activities, and talks related to the Prize’s categories. All events are free to the public.
The first event is the inauguration on March 16th at 5:00 pm at the Nappe of the North Arsenal, with a grand awards ceremony that annually attracts over 4,000 visitors. The exhibition will include 30 paintings, 25 sculptures and installations, 25 photographic works, 10 videos, 5 environmental art projects, 5 urban art projects, 5 virtual art projects, 5 digital graphics projects, 5 design projects, and 5 performances that will be performed live during the opening evening. After a careful selection process, the international jury will showcase the 120 finalist works and select the six overall winners who will receive cash prizes totaling €42,000.
This year’s jury is composed of: Igor Zanti, general curator of the award and director of IED Florence; Flavio Arensi, director of the Legnano museums; Filippo Andreatta, theater director and co-curator of Centrale Fies; Alfonso Femia, architect and founder of AF517; Mattias Givell, co-director of Wanås Konst in Sweden; Eva González-Sancho, co-curator of the first Oslo Biennial in 2019; Simone Pallotta, curator of public and urban art; Richard Noyce, writer, lecturer, and art critic; Danilo Premoli, architect and designer, member of the Scientific Committee for the final selection of the ADI Design Index 2018 and 2019 for the Compasso d’Oro 2020; Enrico Stefanelli, artistic director of the Photolux Festival in Lucca; Alessandra Tiddia, chief curator at the Mart in Trento and Rovereto; Vasili Tsereteli, director of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art; Maxa Zoller, curator of the film section at Art Basel and artistic director of the International Women’s Film Festival in Dortmund.
The winners of the special awards will also be announced during the opening evening. These awards will have the opportunity to exhibit in major international galleries, collaborate with companies, or undertake an artistic residency in Italy and abroad:
Sustainability and Art: Together with the Corepla Consortium (National Consortium for the Collection, Recycling, and Recovery of Plastic Packaging) and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the Award promotes awareness of artistic expression, creativity, design, and the visual and performing arts in general to enhance the RRR (Reuse Reduce Recycle) strategy. The Sustainability and Art Award has the moral patronage of the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea and this year focuses on plastic and plastic-based packaging, with the support of the Corepla Consortium.
An art residency program in Italy and abroad to provide an artistic experience of growth through contact with a new environment or culture, creating new works, and participating in new activities in a multicultural environment. The residencies are awarded to nine artists: GLO’ART in Belgium; Basu Foundation for the Arts in Kolkata; Espronceda in Barcelona; Farm Cultural Park in Favara, Sicily; Maradiva Cultural Residency, Mauritius. This year, Lanificio Paoletti in Treviso, Open Dream, also in Treviso, and Centrale Fies in Trento; and Nuart Festival in Norway have also been involved.
Collaborations with companies to connect creativity with the world of production. This year, artists will be able to use the fine fabrics of Tessitura Luigi Bevilacqua of Venice to create a new work; win €2,000 for the enhancement of the spaces of the 47 Anno Domini winery; and win €2,000 for the graphics of new packaging for the winery’s products.