May 8, 2015 – Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) is delighted to partner with HUGO BOSS for the second edition of the HUGO BOSS ASIA ART award for Emerging Asian Artists, in 2015. Following the success of its inaugural edition in 2013, the award returns with a focus on Greater China but this year it will also encompass Southeast Asia. The shortlisted artists will be announced at the end of June and their works will be shown in a group exhibition at RAM from 30 October 2015 – 3 January 2016. All artworks unveiled in the exhibition will be new commissions created for the Award.
As part of the HUGO BOSS arts program, HUGO BOSS ASIA ART is conceived and curated by the Rockbund Art Museum and carries a stipend of RMB 300,000. The biannual award aims to honor emerging contemporary artists who are in the early stages of their artistic creation and exhibition practices.
Larys Frogier, RAM Director and Chair of the HUGO BOSS ASIA ART jury, elaborates on the conception of the accolade, “HUGO BOSS ASIA ART aims to develop long term and on-going examinations, combinations, confrontations between challenging topics and contexts. Indeed we consider Asia as a construction and as a question to investigate rather than a monolithic area and fixed identities. Asia is made of multi-sites to activate and to analyze in relation to its present on- going mutations, to its future development, and of course in articulation to its historical constructions.”
Li Qi, Senior Curator at RAM, spoke about the significance of the inclusion of Southeast Asian artists, saying “cultural exchanges between Greater China and Southeast Asia have soared over the last five years, reflecting the changing geopolitical and economic dynamics in this region.”
Artists to be considered for shortlisting will have demonstrated innovation in their artistic practice, and will have actively contributed to a discourse on present and urgent challenges of society. Candidates must be under 35 years old and originate from Greater China or Southeast Asia.
As a defining component of each edition of HUGO BOSS ASIA ART, a carefully selected jury is in charge of nominating and selecting the shortlisted artists and the final winner. In 2015, the jury sees a strong mix of both independent and institutional members who have been faithfully supporting artists or projects in Asia. It is comprised of acclaimed museum directors, curators from leading institutions in Greater China, Southeast Asia and international, as well as independent artists, curators, and critics across Southeast Asia and Greater China. Their insights into the development of the contemporary art scene in Asia today, and powerful visions into the challenges towards the future, will stimulate the Award to make greater contributions to the evolution of contemporary art in Asia.
This year the jury consists of:
—Alexandra Munroe Ph.D., Samsung Senior Curator, Asian Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
—Hou Hanru, Curator and Critic, Artistic Director of MAXXI, Rome
—Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Founder and President of the Fondazione Sandretto Re
Rebaudengo, Turin
—Ute Meta Bauer, Founding Director of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Centre for
Contemporary Art (CCA) in Singapore
—Yuko Hasegawa, Chief Curator of Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT), and Curator
of 11th Sharjah Biennale
—Arlette Quỳnh-Anh Trần, Curator and Writer based in Vietnam
—Amy Cheng, Independent Curator based in Taipei
—Doryun Chong, Chief Curator at M+ Hong Kong
—Duan Jianyu, Artist based in Guangzhou
—Heman Chong, Artist, Curator and Writer based in Singapore
—Karen Smith, Artistic Director of OCAT Xi’an, based in Shanghai
—Li Qi, Senior Curator at Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai
—Robin Peckham, Curator and Editor based in Hong Kong and Beijing
The Award will also include on-going education and research programs through the course of the exhibition. The Award is committed to instigating long-term dialogues about the contemporary art world in Asia by examining the diverse histories and cultures across the region.
For media enquiries:
Rockbund Art Museum
Lucie Yang, lucie.yang@rockbundartmuseum.org, +86 13818173124
About RAM
For five years RAM has been at the forefront of the growing contemporary art scene in China, presenting world-class programmes in a unique museum setting. A boutique Museum of the upmost quality, RAM holds a unique position within Shanghai’s continually expanding cultural scene. The Museum is located within the Bund district and housed in an exquisite heritage Art Deco building which was renovated by architect David Chipperfield before opening in 2010.
The museum’s exemplary curatorial, education and research programmes showcase acclaimed and emerging Chinese and international artists, responding to and reflecting on present and urgent challenges of society locally and internationally. RAM presents a bold and pioneering programme of three exhibitions per year; exploring and realising artists’ most ambitious projects and working with them to tailor exhibitions to the Museum and to the Shanghai context, often with a large proportion of works being new commissions. RAM devises, produces and curates its programme in-house, in conjunction with carefully selected international collaborations of the highest quality. For more information, please refer to www.rockbundartmuseum.org.
About the HUGO BOSS Arts Program
The HUGO BOSS arts program was initiated in 1995, concentrating on contemporary arts. Together with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, HUGO BOSS established the HUGO BOSS PRIZE in 1996, an internationally renowned accolade within the field of contemporary art, and realized numerous exhibition projects. The HUGO BOSS ASIA ART Award was launched in 2013, with the objective to promote emerging Chinese artists. Since 2014, HUGO BOSS presents “Konstantin Grcic – Panorama”, an exhibition project of the Vitra Design Museum and the largest solo exhibition on Grcic and his work to date, which is currently touring selected destinations worldwide. HUGO BOSS also commissions internationally renowned artists on a regular basis to design the company’s exclusive HUGO BOSS ArtPass. The 2011 ArtPass was created by the Chinese artist Cao Fei, who was also nominated for the HUGO BOSS PRIZE 2010, the 2014 ArtPass by Lee Kit, nominated for the initial HUGO BOSS ASIA ART Award in 2013. More information on HUGO BOSS and the company’s arts program can be found on www.hugoboss.com.
About HUGO BOSS
The HUGO BOSS Group is one of the leading companies in the premium and luxury segment of the apparel market that focuses on the development and marketing of premium fashion and accessories for men and women. The product portfolio offers menswear, womenswear, kidswear, as well as licensed fragrances, eyewear, watches, children‘s fashion and home textiles.
Further information on HUGO BOSS can be found on our website at hugoboss.com.
