10th International Awards for Art Criticism (IAAC 10) are open for submissions

At the launch event, Lewis Biggs and Ling Ming addressed their thanks to the participating organisations, on behalf of the IAAC’s Organising Committee: ‘IAAC aims for a common stage for all outstanding critics around. Though the submission language is limited to Chinese and English, the stage belongs to the world. We also talk about the issue of visibility, how to enable people seeing excellent writings, IAAC provides the platform on publicising on worldwide social media and annual publication. We focus on the simultaneous updates of artistic practice and theory, IAAC ensures all judges afresh every year , all judging processes are anonymous, and all exhibition involved in the submission is within one year. We encourage and develop the cultural environment through better quality criticism of contemporary art exhibitions. ’

Professor Sun Xiangchen, from the School of Philosophy at Fudan University and co-chair of the IAAC’s Organising Committee said: ‘IAAC provides a platform for these vastly different perspectives to converge on the same stage. Reading so many art reviews is a magical experience and helps us traverse the gaps in time and catch a glimpse of the other side of the world. In the recent past we keenly felt the harshness that can envelope the world, yet we still experienced the warmth of life. Through a series of global upheavals such as the pandemic there have been changes, but also constants. Contemporary art always maintains a critical attitude towards the world, but sustaining this criticism also requires enduring friendships and individual perseverance. IAAC represents a kind of perseverance, and we hope this event will continue to persist. When people look back, it will become a unique way for us to understand and record this era.’

As one of the main organisers of IAAC 10, representator of Shanghai Jiushi Art Musuem said: ‘The global art world is experiencing unprecedented changes nowadays, it brings ways of creating art and showing art, in addition, it proposes new conditions and challenges to art criticism. For Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum, collection and display of distinguished artworks built a strong foundation of education, to promote public apprehension and appreciation of art itself through variety of academic activities and public education. While critics rethink about the form and circulation of art, they also look for enlightened perspectives and methodology of interpretation into the artworks. This is exactly what it means for the Tenth International Awards of Art Criticism, to maintain its independence and influence all around the world.’

The Tenth Edition of the International Awards for Art Criticism (IAAC 10) 2024, is open to candidates from anywhere in the world writing in Chinese or English about any contemporary art exhibition held anywhere in world or on-line between 1 September 2023 and 31 August 2024.  Candidates are invited to write a review of 1,500 words or 2,500 Chinese characters on any exhibition of contemporary art within a strict limit of plus or minus ten per cent.

The First Prize will consist of a cash award of 10,000 Euros (pre-tax) or the RMB equivalent of this amount (currently, around 80,000 RMB). Each of the three Second Prizes will be awarded a cash prize of 3,500 Euros (pre-tax) or the RMB equivalent of this amount (currently, around 30,000 RMB). Around 20 entries (10 in English, 10 in Chinese) will be selected by first-round juries in Shanghai and London and translated for the bilingual publication, Exhibition Reviews Annual 10, in 2025.

The objectivity of the selection process is underpinned, both by the recognised professionalism of the Chinese and English-speaking jury members and by the strict anonymity of the judging process. The members of the final, international jury for 2024 will comprise:

• Cristiana Collu, Italian museum director, independent curator, art historian and lecturer
• DU Keke, Editor of Artforum China, writer and translator.
• Gerardo Mosquera, Independent curator, critic and writer based in Havana and Madrid.
• Małgorzata Kaźmierczak, Ph.D. in History, art critic, independent curator and academic based in Kraków, Poland. President of AICA International.
• YOU Mi, Professor of Art and Economies at the University of Kassel/documenta Institut.

The awards are open to all, there is no age limit and we welcome entries from individuals representing a wide range of backgrounds from anywhere in the world, writing in Chinese or English. All candidates are invited to log in to the official IAAC website, www.iaac-m21.com, enter the relevant details and upload their review and any accompanying images, up to a limit of three. They may then return to the site to add or alter information at any time up to the deadline for submissions.

The closing date for entries is 15 September 2024.

www.iaac-m21.com