Han Nefkens Foundation Announces $100,000 Moving Image Award for Asian Artists

Launched in partnership with the Mori Art Museum, M+ Hong Kong, and the Singapore Art Museum, the prize will go towards the creation of a new screen-based artwork.

The Han Nefkens Foundation, Barcelona, is partnering with three Asian art museums on a major new art commission.

The Han Nefkens Foundation, Mori Art Museum, M+ Hong Kong and the Singapore Art Museum – Moving Image Commission 2021 will go to an artist of Asian origin, nationality, or living in Asia.

The recipient will be aged 35 or over with a strong track record who has not yet shown at a major international institution.

UPDATE (8 November 2021): the inaugural award was won by Vietnamese artist Nguyễn Trinh Thi over shortlisted artists Ugay Alexander from Kazakhstan and Wang Tuo from China.

'I'm excited about this new project because it allows us to broaden our scope beyond younger artists,' said Han Nefkens.

'Just as important is the dialogue we've started with and among our partner museums,' he continued. 'I'm convinced that by sharing our knowledge, expertise and our belief that art is an important catalyst for change this commission will have an impact that will not be limited to Asia.'

Candidates will be evaluated by a final jury comprising Nefkens and the directors of the three museums: Mami Kataoka, Suhanya Raffel, and Dr Eugene Tan.

The winner, who will be announced in early October, will receive US $100,000 and 18 months to complete a work that will be exhibited at all three partnering museums.

Who is Han Nefkens?

Born in the Netherlands, Han Nefkens studied journalism and worked as a radio correspondent in Mexico for 11 years before becoming a novelist. He began collecting art after seeing an exhibition by Pipilotti Rist in 1999.

'I was absorbed in the universe Rist created with her videos,' he says on the foundation's website. 'I smelled the wet earth, I felt her skin against mine, and I swayed along with her singing voice. When I left the museum two and a half hours later, I knew I wanted to be a part of that world and share what moved me with other people.'

In 2001, he started the H+F Collection of contemporary art, which consists of works by artists including Rist, Jeff Wall, Sam Taylor-Wood, Bill Viola, Shirin Neshat, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, many of which have been given to museums on long-term loan.

He established the Han Nefkens Foundation in 2009 as a means to collaborate with international art museums to produce video art and connect people across the art world. —[O]