QMA and Fondazione Prada Curate Award
NEW GLOBAL ART PRIZE GIVES EVERYONE A CHANCE TO CREATE THEIR OWN EXHIBITION
Qatar Museums Authority and Fondazione Prada present Curate, a global competition to find new curating talent, the first of its kind. The competition is open for entries until 31 December 2013, online on www.curateaward.org
The winner, selected by an international jury, will be announced in April 2014, with the award of the unprecedented opportunity to curate the exhibition of his/her dreams.
The Jury is: Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani, Chairperson, Qatar Museums Authority; Miuccia Prada, President, Fondazione Prada; Rem Koolhaas, architect, urban theorist, founder, OMA; Nadine Labaki, Lebanese film-maker and actress; Nawal El Moutawakel, Vice President, International Olympic Committee and the first woman from a Muslim majority country to win an Olympic gold medal; and Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director, Serpentine Gallery, London.
The Curate competition seeks to opens up and challenges people’s ideas of what an exhibition can be. The Jury will be looking for an exemplary exhibition idea that is both far-sighted and critical to the future. Participation in the competition is not limited to aspiring or established curators, but is open to anyone with a great concept for creative expression, with the emphasis on encouraging young people to compete, whether as individuals or as collaborative groups.
The closing date for entries is 31 December 2013. A shortlist of twenty ideas will be announced on 1 February 2014, and will be showcased on the Curate website, giving an opportunity to the public to respond to and comment on their favourite projects. The winner will be announced on 15 April 2014.
In a statement on behalf of the Curate Jury, it was said: “The notion of ‘curating’ no longer belongs just to the museum. With the development of digital and social media, it has now become possible for anyone to participate in the selection, editing and communication of ideas. We hope that people, whatever their age or background, will make the most of the opportunity offered by Curate to think about the future potential of exhibition making, where there are no imposed boundaries to media, scale, content and formats. Ideas, whether from the fields of science or the arts, can come from anywhere.”
As part of the international promotion of the Curate Prize, Qatar Museums Authority and Fondazione Prada have developed a series of events for students and teachers in collaboration with leading international universities and art academies specialising in curatorial studies.
Presentations included the Nuova Accademia de Belle Arti (NABA) in Milan, Università luav in Venice, Virginia Commonwealth University in Doha, China Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College (CCS Bard) in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York and Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne.
How to enter:
To enter, upload a video and a one page document that explains your concept to Curate website on www.curateaward.org
The video must be no longer than two minutes and no bigger than 250MB. Supported formats include .mov .mp4 .avi .wmv and .flv
The one page document should be no longer than 500 words and include:
- Statement of intent
- List of materials/works used in your exhibition
- Supported formats include .doc .docx .txt .pdf
MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
Jane Quinn, Bolton & Quinn: +44 (20) 7221 5000; jq@boltonquinn.com
Press office, Fondazione Prada: +39 02 54670 981 ; press@fondazioneprada.org
About the Curate Jury
H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa
Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has played a pioneering role in the fields of culture, education and outreach, spearheading and supporting a number of local and international organisations. As the Chairperson of the Qatar Museums Authority Board of Trustees, H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa guides the vision for future museums and cultural projects, with the aim of transforming the State of Qatar into a leading centre of culture and education for its region and the world. The Museum of Islamic Art, the flagship project of the QMA, embodies Her Excellency’s vision of bridging East and West, as well as past and present. In addition to her work on cultural initiatives, H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa is also the Chairperson of Doha Film Institute and of Reach Out To Asia (ROTA), a philanthropic nongovernmental organisation that is dedicated to assisting the victims of recent natural disasters, as well as aiming to improve the quality of primary and secondary education in Asia.
Miuccia Prada
Attracted by the challenges of contemporary art and culture and animated by a profound passion for her work, fashion designer Miuccia Prada has been leading the Fondazione Prada for the past twenty years. Together with her husband Patrizo Bertelli she has shaped the foundation’s rich agenda, ranging from international art projects to cinema, philosophy and architecture. Desirous to further expand its radius of activity, Miuccia Prada is currently working on the Fondazione Prada’s new exhibition venues in Milan and Venice.
Rem Koolhaas
Rem Koolhaas has is the founding partner of The Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). His work as an architect, theorist, urbanist and professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design led to him being named one of the World’s Most Influential People by Time in 2008. He also heads AMO, the research brand of OMA, operating in areas such as media, politics, renewable energy and fashion. In 2000, he won the Pritzker Prize and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Lion at the 2010 Venice Biennale. In 2014, Rem Koolhaas will direct the 14th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, under the title “Fundamentals”.
Nadine Labaki
Nadine Labaki is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers and actresses of her generation in the Arab world, known for tearing down stereotypes, and touching on fundamental issues in humorous and poetic ways. Her first feature film, Caramel, premiered at Cannes in 2007 and put her on the 10 Directors to Watch list at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2008, she was awarded the insignia of Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. Her second feature, Where Do We Go Now? was an international success, collecting awards around the world and a nomination for best foreign film at the Critics Choice Awards.
Nawal El Moutawakel
Nawal El Moutawakel was the first women from a Muslim majority country to win an Olympic gold medal and is renowned for her work championing female athletes all over the world. Hailing from Casablanca, Nawal’s win in the women’s 400m hurdles at the 1984 Olympics heralded a breakthrough for sporting women in Muslim countries. In 1933 she started Courir pour le plaisir, a 5km run that has become the biggest women’s race held in a Muslim country. Since 2007, she has been the Moroccan Minister of Youth and Sports. A Vice President of International Olympic Committee, Nawal was the Chair of the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games Evaluation Commission and holds a place in the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Hans Ulrich Obrist
A contemporary art curator, critic and art historian, Hans-Ulrich Obrist is currently Co-Director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects at the Serpentine Gallery, London. He is author of The Interview Project (an extensive ongoing project of interviews) and initiator of the Marathon series (public events that have so far included interviews, experiments, manifestos and poetry). An advocate and archivist for artists, he was named 2009’s Most Powerful Person in Art by Art Review. That same year he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
