ARTE LAGUNA PRIZE: the eleventh edition, one of the richest ever, starts now

The Arte Laguna Prize continues to grow and improve year after year, once again proving its features of internationality, high quality, and diversity. The eleventh edition of the contest, which opens entries today, strongly demonstrates this.

The number of collaborations has risen, together with the distinctiveness and diversity of the awards and opportunities presented to the artists, and the variety of partners ? European, Asian, American, but also Italian. There is also an increase in the multiplicity of media and artistic disciplines that can enter the competition, as well as in the number of works that will be on view in the final exhibition in Venice.

The competition gives artists the opportunity to exhibit at the Arsenale of Venice, one of the most coveted locations for artists and a reference point for the contemporary art world. The exhibition will also include an additional venue in the lagoon thanks to the enduring synergy with the TIM Future Centre, which will provide the spaces adjacent to Rialto for viewing and interacting with the digital artworks.

The finalists, this year growing to 125, will be selected as usual by a jury of international experts coming from museums, foundations, major exhibitions and curatorhips: Flavio Arensi (Italy, Art Critic), Manuel Borja-Villel (Spain, Director of the National Museum Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid), Tamara Chalabi (Iraq, Chair and Co-Founder of the Ruya Foundation), Paolo Colombo (Italy, Art Advisor for the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art), Suad Garayeva (Azerbaijan, Curatorial Director of YARAT Contemporary Art Centre's exhibitions and permanent collection), Ilaria Gianni (Italy, Curator and Art Critic), Nav Haq (Belgium, Senior Curator at M HKA – Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp), Emanuele Montibeller (Italy, Artistic Director of Arte Sella in Trentino), Fatos Ustek (United Kingdom, Independent Curator and Writer), and Alma Zevi (Italy, Curator and Writer). The jury is chaired by Prize curator Igor Zanti, also director of IED Venice. Among the participants shortlisted as finalists, 6 will be awarded 7 thousand euro each for a total amount of 42 thousand euro.

The free-themed contest is open to artists from all over the world with no restrictions, with the aim of collecting and mapping the expressions of contemporary art in the fields of painting, photography, sculpture, video art, performance, virtual art, land art and, starting this year, digital graphics. This diversity makes this competition absolutely unique in both the national and European scene.

For this eleventh edition, environmental art (land art) is supported by Pentagram Stiftung.

THE PRIZES
 

Artist in Residence Prizes
It is a program of art residencies in Italy and abroad aimed at providing a space and time to experience a new culture, create new works and participate in new activities in a multicultural environment. This year there are 9 partners: the San Francisco Art Residency featuring the collaboration of three institutions namely Tech Shop, The Growlery, Pacific Felt Factory; The Art Department in Turkey; GLO’ART in Belgium; Basu Foundation for the Arts in Kolkata; Espronceda in Barcelona; Taipei Artist Village; Artistic Serigraphy Fallani Venice; the Berengo Foundation in Murano; Foundry Salvadori Arte in Pistoia.

Business for Art Prizes
Collaborations with companies to create: a new collection of bags and accessories branded Deglupta, a Venetian firm; promotional videos, images for advertising campaigns and designs for soft furniture with Rima Sofa & Beds from Pordenone; a new interpretation of the bow tie product for a limited edition branded Papillover, a company from Naples; a video enhancing the art-technology relationship through unique and creative communication with Eurosystem from Treviso; the development of a network and the implementation of art services with the Canadian platform Biafarin. Each firm will award the selected artist with a collaboration and with prize money, for a total of 17 thousand euro.

Artist in Gallery Prizes
Organization of 5 exhibitions in international Art Galleries including setting-up, vernissage and catalogue at: Salamatina Gallery in New York; Galerie Isabelle Lesmeister in Germany; Galeria Fernando Santos in Portugal; ART re.FLEX Gallery in Saint Petersburg; Chelouche Gallery for Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv.

Participation in Festivals and collective Exhibitions
Selection of 12 artists for participation in collective events in Slovenia at the Art Stays Festival, in Beijing with the events organized by Art Nova 100 and in Venice with the International Exhibition of Sculptures and Installations - Open.

Entries must be received by November 16, 2016.
More information and the competition notice are available at www.artelagunaprize.com