Access Bank Announces ART X Prize For Emerging Artists

MICHAEL AKINOLA

ART X Lagos, West Africa’s foremost international art fair, in conjunction with Access Bank, has announced the 2018 edition of the ‘ART X Prize With Access’, which was established to recognise and support the best of emerging Nigerian visual art talent. 

Tokini Peterside, Founder and Director of ART X Lagos said the mission to support and contribute to the development of the art sector and invest in Nigerian talent informed Access Bank’s collaboration with ART X Lagos.

She said the sponsorship of the ‘ART X Prize with Access’, is a partnership that will provide vital professional development for a new generation of Nigerian artists, and celebrate and empower emerging talent.

“We are delighted to have the support of Access Bank for this initiative which will enable us to support ambitious emerging artists in Nigeria, who are at pivotal stages in their careers,” Peterside remarked.

The winner of the ‘ART X Prize with Access’ will receive a ₦1million grant towards an ambitious project or installation by the artist, which will be exhibited in a solo presentation at ART X Lagos 2018.

“The winning artist will additionally receive significant visibility, and invaluable opportunities for networking and mentoring. The ‘ART X Prize with Access’ will give Nigeria’s most promising emerging artists the opportunity to further their careers, and to challenge the expectations of the global audience at ART X Lagos, which is comprised of collectors and visitors from significant institutions around the world,” Peterside added.

The ‘ART X Prize With Access’ will be adjudicated by a jury of five renowned artists and industry stakeholders. They are Professor Bruce Onobrakpeya, a renowned experimental artist, with a career spanning five decades and notable exhibitions, including at the Tate Modern, London; Yinka Shonibare, MBE, who received Turner Prize nominations in 2004 and 2008, and is renowned worldwide for his groundbreaking sculptures, photography and prints, including amongst others, his public art commission Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, which was displayed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London in 2010 and Wura-Natasha Ogunji, a highly regarded visual artist and performer whose works include drawings, videos and public performances.

She is a recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and is a co-curator of this year’s Sao Paulo Biennale.

Others are Sokari Douglas-Camp who has represented Britain and Nigeria in national and international exhibitions and her solo exhibitions have held at The Smithsonian Institute and The Museum of Mankind London among other institutions. She is an honorary Fellow of the University of the Arts, London.

The last jury member is Oliver Enwonwu, an artist, art critic, historian, publisher and curator.

He is also the director and founder of Omenka Gallery, and is president of the Society of Nigerian Artists.

The ‘ART X Prize With Access 2018’ is now open to emerging Nigerian artists who are domiciled in Nigeria and have practised as artists for at least 5 years to apply to the vital platform.

Applications can be submitted at www.artxlagos.com/prize and will be open until 15 June 2018.

The winner will be declared at the end of June.