press room
For all press enquiries please contact:
Artes Mundi
St John’s Chambers
High Street Arcade
Cardiff
CF10 1BD
Wales
UK
tel +44 (0)29 2055 5300
fax +44 (0)29 2055 5800
Email: info@artesmundi.org
Artes Mundi is an international arts organisation based in Wales. Established in 2002, Artes Mundi is committed to supporting groundbreaking contemporary visual artists from around the world whose work engages with social reality, lived experience and the human condition.
Every two years, working with artists, galleries, art institutions, curators and the British Council, Artes Mundi seeks nominations of artists known in their own country or region but who are still gaining wider international recognition. Two independent selectors review the nominations and select six artists for the biennial Exhibition and Prize.
The 12 week Exhibition features a body of work from each of the shortlisted artists and takes place at the National Museum of Art in Cardiff. A separate panel of five judges awards the Artes Mundi Prize which is one of the world’s largest cash prizes in the visual arts. From 2012, Artes Mundi will award £40,000 to the winner and £4,000 each to the other shortlisted artists. A new partnership with Mostyn will also see one of the shortlisted artists present a solo show the year after the exhibition.
The first four Artes Mundi Exhibitions have been a popular success with diverse audiences and, particularly, with young people. Public and curatorial events and education programmes are offered in Wales during each biennial and further touring and commissioning strands are being developed.
In 2010 the Artes Mundi 4 Prize was awarded to Yael Bartana who will represent Poland at the 2011 Venice Biennale. The first Artes Mundi Prize was awarded in 2004 to Xu Bing, a Chinese born artist living in New York. In 2006 the Artes Mundi 2 Prize was awarded to the Finnish artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila, and in 2008 to the Indian artist NS Harsha.
Artes Mundi is publicly funded by the Arts Council of Wales and by Cardiff City Council.
Ben Borthwick was appointed Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Artes Mundi in 2010. He is a curator and writer who specialises in international contemporary art, with particular focus on sound and socially engaged practices. During seven years at Tate Modern (2003-10) he curated exhibitions including Gilbert & George, Latifa Echakhch, Rodchenko and Popova, The Irresistible Force and Rosa Barba, and worked closely with Bruce Nauman and Doris Salcedo on their Turbine Hall commissions. In 2008, Borthwick co-founded Butcher’s, a non-profit arts organisation that produces projects in high street locations and public spaces. Prior to Tate, he worked on a number of public art projects with Artangel, Liverpool Biennial and Henry Moore Foundation. He writes regularly for exhibition catalogues and artist publications and was a regular contributor to The Wire music magazine from 1998 to 2008.
