Artes Mundi hits the road: next edition of contemporary art prize to be shown at venues across Wales

The Artes Mundi contemporary art award—the largest in the UK with a £40,000 prize pot—is adopting a new format for its tenth edition next year, expanding across Wales to multiple venues (October 2023-March 2024). Works by the seven nominated artists will be presented at several spaces: The contemporary art gallery Mostyn in Llandudno; Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea; Chapter, Cardiff; and National Museum Cardiff (for the past two decades the biennial Artes Mundi exhibition has been presented in Cardiff).

The nominated artists are: Kurdistan-born Rushdi Anwar, UK-born Carolina Caycedo, Kuwait-born Alia Farid, Mexico-based Naomi Rincón Gallardo, Taloi Havani of the Nakas/Hakö tribe, Vietnamese-born Nguyen Trinh Thi and Mounira Al Solh of Lebanon. Nigel Prince, the director of Artes Mundi, says in a statement: “We look ahead with our nationwide partners to presenting work from this edition’s shortlist that will speak to the urgent issues of our times in the most immediate of ways.” 

Following an open call, the artists were chosen by a panel comprising the curator Zoe Butt, Katya García-Antón (chief curator of the Office for Contemporary Art Norway, OCA), Wanda Nanibush (curator and community organiser from Beausoleil First Nation) and the Johannesburg-based artist Gabi Ngcobo. The Bagri Foundation, a UK charity, is supporting Artes Mundi 10.

Previous winners include John Akomfrah, Theaster Gates, Teresa Margolles, Yael Bartana, Eija-Liisa Ahtila and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Last year all six nominated artists won the award, reflecting the general trend during the pandemic to honour all nominees in a shift towards collectivism. The last edition was a “celebration of activism” with works on show by the US artist Carrie Mae Weems and Meiro Koizumi of Japan.