Artes Mundi 8

Following the success of Artes Mundi 7, awarded to John Akomfrah earlier this year, Artes Mundi is pleased to announce the shortlist for the eighth edition of the UK’s leading biennial art prize, Artes Mundi 8. The biennial Cardiff-based prize, worth £40,000, will be awarded in January 2019 following a fourth-month exhibition.

 The shortlist was selected from over 450 nominations spanning 86 countries and includes five of the world’s most celebrated contemporary artists, whose works explore what it means to be human. They are:

ANNA BOGHIGUIAN (CANADA/EGYPT)

BOUCHRA KHALILI (MOROCCO/FRANCE) | OTOBONG NKANGA (NIGERIA)

TREVOR PAGLEN (USA) | APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL (THAILAND)

The Artes Mundi 8 shortlist will take part in a major exhibition which will run from 27th October 2018 to February 24th 2019 at National Museum Cardiff.

 Anna Boghiguian’s work was first shown in Catherine David’s Contemporary Arab Representations, beginning in 2003 in Rotterdam. Attracting much attention and acclaim, her drawings also stirred political debate and controversy, especially in her native Egypt. Bouchra Khalili’s recent video work “The Mapping Journey Project” has been exhibited internationally including a solo exhibition at MoMA, New York in 2016. Each of her projects can be seen as a platform offered to members of political minority to elaborate, narrate, and share strategies and discourses of resistance. Otobong Nkanga ‘s work “In Wetin You Go Do?” is part of the permanent collection at Tate Modern. Her work explores the social and topographical changes of her environment, observes their inherent complexities and understands how resources such as soil and earth, and their potential values, are subject to regional and cultural analysis. Trevor Paglen launched an artwork into distant orbit around Earth in collaboration with Creative Time and MIT in 2012. Paglan’s ongoing project investigates global state surveillance and the ethics of drone warfare. Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s video installations and feature films have won him widespread recognition and numerous festival prizes, including two prizes from the Cannes Film Festival. Themes reflected in his films include dreams, nature, sexuality, and Western perceptions of Thailand and Asia.