Artes Mundi reveals shortlist for contemporary art prize

The new director of Artes Mundi, Nigel Prince, has announced the six artists shortlisted for the ninth edition of the organisation’s biennial international contemporary art prize.

The artists are Firelei Báez (Dominican Republic), Dineo Seshee Bopape (South Africa), Meiro Koizumi (Japan), Beatriz Santiago Muñoz (Puerto Rico), Prabhakar Pachpute (India) and Carrie Mae Weems (US). The winner will be announced in January 2021 during a four-month exhibition that opens in October 2020 at Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd (National Museum Cardiff).

“For me, there are a whole series of points about the prize that are terribly exciting,” said Prince, who was the executive director of Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver from 2011 until he joined Artes Mundi this year. 

“One is that we have some quite young artists who are emerging to great critical attention through to artists that are more established in their practice, so there is the sense of an inter-generational discussion that is really important. 

“Also, there is how the artists speak to the various issues that we contend with in our daily lives. There are intertwining themes that make for a rather rich stew of meaning and resonance – ideas surrounding social inclusion, representation, who is represented and how, the interface between public and private, environmental concerns, and how all these global issues resonate at a local level.”

Artes Mundi is based in Cardiff and supports international contemporary artists through the prize, exhibition and other activities.

The Artes Mundi 9 jury is Cosmin Costinas, executive director and curator of Para Site, Hong Kong, and artistic director of Kathmandu Triennale 2020; Elvira Dyangani-Ose, director of The Showroom gallery in London; and Rachel Kent, chief curator at Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia.

Previous winners of the Artes Mundi prize include Apichatpong Weerasethakul, John Akomfrah, Theaster Gates and Teresa Margolles.