Igor Zabel Award 2018 winners and award ceremony

07.12.2018

The Igor Zabel Award for Culture and Theory 2018 goes to Joanna Mytkowska, Poland
 

The jury has awarded art historian and curator Joanna Mytkowska (Poland) the Igor Zabel Award 2018 for her committed and outstanding work as the director of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Igor Zabel Award Grants are given to Edith Jeřábková (Czech Republic), Oberliht Association (Moldova) and The Visual Culture Research Center (Ukraine).

The 2018 winners will be presented at an award ceremony: 7 December, Moderna galerija, Cankarjeva 15, Ljubljana

The Igor Zabel Award for Culture and Theory acknowledges the exceptional achievements of cultural protagonists whose work supports, develops or investigates visual art and culture in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. Since 2018 award edition a three-member international jury selects the laureate and recipients of two grants based on the proposals given by 10 nominators; third grant is still named by the laureate.

2018 Igor Zabel Award recipient

→ Joanna Mytkowska, art historian, curator and, since 2007, the director of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. The jury acknowledges the extraordinary intellectual, curatorial and civic achievements that Joanna Mytkowska has developed over the last 15 years, especially as the director of MoMA in Warsaw. Notable are her exceptional commitment to reaffirming the relation of art to society in times of radical socio-political transformations in Poland and beyond as well as her outstanding expertise on art from Central and Eastern Europe.

Joanna Mytkowska, photo: Tadeusz Rolke
Joanna Mytkowska, photo: Tadeusz Rolke

2018 Igor Zabel Award Grant recipients

Igor Zabel Award Grant recipients according to the jury's selection:
→ Edith Jeřábková, curator, researcher, teacher and art writer from Prague, for her resilience regarding emancipating non-institutional forms of cultural production and searching for new articulations of curatorial practice and theory.
→ Oberliht Association from Chisinau, Moldova, in recognition of its ongoing support to the local artistic community and its innovative engagement with projects in the public space.

Igor Zabel Award Grant recipient according to the laureate's selection:
→ The Visual Culture Research Center (VCRC) from Kyiv, which, through the analysis of visual culture, aims to foster reflection on the post-Soviet political and economic situation, for its unique contribution to acting, critical thinking and creativity in the highly difficult context of Ukraine in the state of war today.


2018 jury members: Adam Budak (chief curator, National Gallery, Prague), Ana Janevski (curator, MoMA, New York), Erzen Shkololli (director, National Art Gallery of Albania, Tirana)

2018 nominators: Anna Daučíková, Branislav Dimitrijević, Maja and Reuben Fowkes, Christian Höller, Lívia Páldi, Dan Perjovschi, Magdalena Radomska, Barbara Steiner, Adam Szymczyk, Maria Vassileva
 

Named in honour of the distinguished Slovenian curator and art historian Igor Zabel (1958–2005), the award has been conferred biennially since 2008 in cooperation with ERSTE Foundation (Vienna) and the Igor Zabel Association for Culture and Theory (Ljubljana). With prize money totalling 76,000 EUR, it is one of the highest and most prestigious prizes for cultural activities related to Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.

Award ceremony programme: 7 December, Moderna galerija, Ljubljana
 

18:00 → The Curator’s Room – Igor Zabel: How to Make Art Visible?
Upon the tenth anniversary of the Igor Zabel Award, an award programme will also include the English premiere of a documentary film about Igor Zabel.

20:00 → Igor Zabel Award 2018 ceremony

20:30 → Art as Commitment and Right: A conversation with the laureate, Joanna Mytkowska
The conversation will focus on the possibilities and challenges of reaffirming the relation of art to society in times of radical socio-political transformations and on the role of a museum as civically responsible institution in this context.
21:00 → Igor Zabel Award Grants ceremony and presentation of the grant recipients

Moderated by
Nataša Briški / Sound by Luka Prinčič/Nova DeViator / Light by artist Vadim Fiškin


Organizer: Igor Zabel Association for Culture and Theory
Initiator of the award and main partner: ERSTE Foundation
Partner: MG+MSUM
Media partner: TAM-TAM

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