M&C Saatchi Group and Saatchi Gallery have announced the six regional winners of their annual international art initiative, Art for Change Prize, ahead of Cop28, when the world will be focused on one of the most urgent issues of our time. The competition invited emerging artists from around the world to creatively respond to the theme of Regeneration for the chance to win a grand prize of £10,000.
This year, the climate-focused prize celebrates the power of global creativity to transform the conversation around the climate emergency. It’s a call to action for meaningful change, recognising that there is no art on a dead planet.
The number of entries increased by 20% from last year, totalling 3,000 from artists based in 130 countries, with over 56% of them developing nations from within Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Climate related disasters are considerably increasing inequalities and injustices that already exist in the world. Meanwhile cuts to arts education funding, coupled with pre-existing structural barriers, such as unpaid internships and low wages, has meant that opportunities for students and under-represented groups to interact with contemporary art have been significantly reduced. The prize was launched as part of a shared mission by M&C Saatchi Group & Saatchi Gallery to break down barriers to entry in the creative industry and enable people across the globe to choose art and creativity as a career choice.
A winner from each M&C Saatchi key global region (UK, Europe, Americas, Asia, Australia, and Middle East & Africa) has been carefully selected by some of the best business and creative minds from M&C Saatchi Group globally and a special selection of top tier guest judges.
The six regional winners are:
- Australia Winner – Jen Valender from Melbourne, Australia for her work Sediment (below) and Artist as Animal (above)
- Americas Winner – Ingrid Weyland from Buenos Aires, Argentina for her work Topographies of Fragility XXXV and Topographies of Fragility XXXVI
- Asia Winner – Haining Wang from Beijing, China for her work Molt
- Europe Winner – Alina Zamanova from Kyiv, Ukraine for her work Our Children are Fighting too
- Middle East & Africa Winner – Chibuike Ifedilichukwu from Anambra, Nigeria for his work Equality State
- UK Winner – Natasha Botelho Cook from London, England for her work The Garden of Dried Roses
Each winner in the non-for-profit initiative will receive a cash prize. The total prize fund of £20,000 will be split between the six regional winners, five to receive £2,000 each and one overall winner, due to be announced at the exhibition launch on November 29 2023, to receive £10,000. Additionally, all artists’ winning works will be exhibited in a dedicated exhibition at Saatchi Gallery, an iconic platform for contemporary art, from 30th November 2023 until January 7 2024.
The overall winner will be selected by a Grand Jury lead by Chair of Judges, Justine Simons, London’s Deputy Mayor for Culture & Creative Industries and Founder and Chair of the World Cities Cultural Forum, alongside Saatchi Gallery Director, Paul Foster, and one M&C Saatchi Group judge from each region. The winner will be announced on November 29 2023.
Paul Foster, Saatchi Gallery Director, commented, “The diversity and quality of works created by the regional winners of the Art For Change Prize this year take the breath away. These winning works remind us that contemporary artists have something important to express about how we live that is relevant to all of us. Someday soon, a work will emerge about the climate crisis that will have the same impact in the 21st century as Guernica did about war in the 20th century.”
Patrick Guerrera, chief executive officer at Re (part of M&C Saatchi Group), stated of Australia’s win, “It was an absolute privilege to judge this prize, as I was exposed to some of Australia’s most extraordinary artists, creating works around a theme that is so critical in these times. It was hard to choose a winner but Jen Valender’s evocative films were so emotionally expansive, that she was our clear choice in the end.”
Jen Valender is an Australasian artist who was born in Aotearoa New Zealand and is based in Naarm Melbourne. Her practice and research investigate methods that compress complex experiences, histories and ethical dilemmas into simple gestures through projection, moving image, sound, sculpture and performance. Grounded in the cinematic, she is inspired by material conditions, conceptual paradoxes, poetic problematics and a resolute blurring of the art/life dichotomy.
Claire Bridge, fellow judge and Founder of Art World Women added, “Selected from an outstanding field of entries, Jen Valender’s enigmatic work grapples with the dilemmas and challenges of current times with authentic and poetic elegance. Inviting, spacious and attending to slow reveal, Valender extends models of cooperative collaboration beyond the human, and offers new possibilities for hope and regeneration. I was enthralled by the depth and breadth of entries across our region and commend the compelling work by Trawlwoolway artist Edwina Green, Linda Sok, Ryan Andrew Lee and Luke Conroy.”
Emma Robbins, National Executive Creative Director for M&C Saatchi, commented, “It was an honour to judge with Pat and Claire across another collection of incredibly emotive and thought provoking work, created by incredibly talented and inspirational artists.”
Grand Jury Judges include: Justine Simons, London’s Deputy Mayor for Culture & Creative Industries and Founder and Chair of the World Cities Cultural Forum, Paul Foster, Director at Saatchi Gallery, Ronaldo Tavares, Executive Creative Director at M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, Klara Eide, Partner & Executive Strategy Director at M&C Saatchi Stockholm, Lucas Crigler, Creative Director at SS+K, Part of M&C Saatchi Group, Ryan Reed, Chief Creative Officer at M&C Saatchi UAE, Ali Shabaz, Chief Creative Officer at M&C Saatchi Singapore, Emma Robbins, National Executive Creative Director, M&C Saatchi Australia
Regional Judges include: UK: Darren Bowles, Partner & Executive Creative Director at Re, Part of M&C Saatchi Group, Ronaldo Tavares, Executive Creative Director at M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, Sophie Morgan, TV Presenter, Writer & Disability Advocate
Europe: Klara Eide, Partner & Executive Strategy Director at M&C Saatchi Stockholm, Christian ‘Kidde’ Schuck, Managing Creative Director at M&C Saatchi Berlin, Michael Elmenbeck, Founder and Creative Director of CF HILL Art Space and Bon Magazine
Americas: Nicholos Rotondi, Executive Creative Director at M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment North America, Lucas Crigler, Creative Director at SS+K, Part of M&C Saatchi Group, Mickey Smith, Conceptual Artist and Photographer
Middle East & Africa: Robert Grace, Founding Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at M&C Saatchi Group South Africa, Ryan Reed, Chief Creative Officer at M&C Saatchi UAE, Zeinab Alhashemi, Conceptual Artist, specialised in site specific art installation and public art, Artist Mentor and Founder of Athmad Projects
Asia: Ali Shabaz, Chief Creative Officer at M&C Saatchi Singapore, Dami Sidharta, Chief Creative Officer at M&C Saatchi Indonesia, Nadya Wang, Editor of Art & Market and Fashion & Market, Lecturer at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
Australia: Emma Robbins, National Executive Creative Director, M&C Saatchi Australia, Patrick Guerrera, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Re, Part of M&C Saatchi Group, Claire Bridge, Founder of Art World Women and dual contributor to The Peregrine Collection on The Moon
