ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art | nominees announced

The ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art will be awarded for the first time during ANTI Contemporary Art Festival in Kuopio, Finland in September 2014. The six nominees for the award have now been announced: Franko B (UK/IT), Heather Cassils (CA/US), Frog King/Kwok Mang-ho (HK), May Say production (FI), Gwendoline Robin (BE) and Joshua Sofaer (UK).

The artistic directors of ANTI Contemporary Art Festival, Johanna Tuukkanen and Gregg Whelan, say:

"A total of 40 artist nominations were put forward by 10 trusted colleagues working across Europe, Scandinavia, North America, Asia and Australia. The process of reading each nomination, and hearing many of the artists' work for the first time, was an absolutely fascinating and exciting process, highlighting the variety of mediums, forms and methods of artists working under the umbrella of Live Art. After some weeks of research and discussion, we have narrowed down the long list of 40 artists to a short-list of six exceptional artists whose work is outstanding in its investigation of art and the everyday, collaboration and encounter and the body, endurance and sociability."

The winner of the ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art will be chosen by three judges: artist Anssi Kasitonni (FI), architect Juhani Pallasmaa (FI) and director Ruth Mackenzie (UK) as the chair. This judging panel, comprising three top specialists, provides a wide view of contemporary art's diversity and its current manifestations.

The world's first ever International Prize for Live Art will be presented at the ANTI Contemporary Art Festival in Kuopio in September 2014. The prize is 30,000 euros, with the winning artist receiving a cash prize of 15,000 euros and the same amount in the form of a production grant for bringing their new work to the ANTI Festival in 2015. The prize is funded by the Saastamoinen Foundation.

ANTI Contemporary Art Festival takes place 23-28 September 2014

Image: works by FrogKingKwok (Hong Kong)