With the deadline fast approaching, UK based artists have less than a month to enter the VIA Arts Prize. The Call for Entries closes on Monday 30 September 2019.
The winner receives £5,000 from prize sponsor Itaù and a solo show at the Embassy of Brazil next year. Second place wins £2,000 and the final 30 shortlisted works will feature in a group show at the Embassy this November. The winning artist will be announced at an award ceremony on Tuesday 12 November 2019.
The acclaimed art award seeks to promote the considerable global and historical reach of Latin American and Iberian culture. UK-based artists of any nationality are invited to submit an original artwork specifically inspired by Ibero-American arts and culture. Submission is free and welcomes all mediums excluding film and performance art.
The Embassy of Brazil’s Cultural Attaché, Paula Rassi says:
“From Lygia Clarke to Gabriel Orozco, Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese art interacts with the UK’s in a process of cross-cultural exchange. Ibero-American art is more relevant today than ever before and is becoming increasingly accessible in important art and cultural institutions. The fifth edition of the VIA Arts Prize encourages entrants to explore and immerse themselves in Latin American and Iberian culture to create original visual artworks that form connections with these regional outputs.”
This year’s prestigious judging panel includes:
- Andrea Harrari, Director of jaggedart
- Fernando Casasempere, Sculptor
- Frances Reynolds, Patron of the Arts
- James Nicholls, Chairman of Maddox Gallery Group
- Dr Sarah Demelo, Art Historian Curator of the Essex Collection of Art from Latin America
- Sofia Fan, Manager of Visual Arts at Itaú Cultural in Brazil
- Vanessa Carlos, Director of the Carlos/Ishikawa gallery
The VIA Arts Prize is organised by the ACALASP (the Association of Cultural Attachés of Latin America, Spain and Portugal) and is hosted annually at the Embassy of Brazil in London. The initiative is sponsored by Itáu and supported by People’s Palace Projects (Queen Mary University of London) and Instituto Cervantes.