December 5, 2018
The jury gathered in Prishtinë yesterday and today to select the winner of the Artists of Tomorrow Award 2018. We were delighted to view the exhibition and meet each of the finalists Qëndresë Deda, Altin Krasniqi and Dion Zeqiri to discuss their work.
We greatly enjoy the installation of the works in the Boxing Club and how they allowed each artist the space to make their ideas clear. We we are impressed by the commitment of the artists and how they articulate their ambitions for the work. We recognize a strong relationship to the local context in each artists work, both in terms of subject and material, and it was encouraging for us to see how Kosovar artists are increasingly finding effective ways draw from their personal experience in relation to their social and economic environments.
We appreciate Altin Krasniqi’s investigation of single-owner shops as a unique research platform and particularly liked his paintings of the subject. We are impressed by Dion Zeqiri’s intelligent critique of the urban context in Prishtinë and the way his works are installed in the Boxing Club. We find that Qëndresë Deda’s work is a remarkable mix of the personal, poetic and analytical. Her installation convincingly combined image, text and natural materials into a complex and precise form.
In the long and interesting debate between the members of the jury, we considered each of the three candidates in turn. We looked at their work in detail and the history of each practice. In thinking through the potential of each project we considered how the candidates might take advantage of the residency in New York City.
The Jury would like to thank Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtinë for organizing the award and guiding us through the jury process so well. In the end, we are happy to come to a unanimous decision about the winner.
We are therefore delighted to announce Qëndresë Deda as the winner of the award. We wish her great success in New York and for the future. We would like to congratulate all the finalists this year, and to encourage Altin Krasniqi, Dion Zeqiri and all artists under 35 working in Kosovo to continue their work and to seriously consider applying for the 2019 award.
And we would like to use this opportunity to encourage public institutions and other private donors to increase the support for the Artists of Tomorrow Award which facilities greater access and international exchange for young artists working in Kosovo today.
The Jury of the Artists of Tomorrow Award 2018
Adrian Deva
Charles Esche
Erëmirë Krasniqi
Amanda Parmer
Jelena Vesić
September 20, 2018
Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina is pleased to announce that on September 20, 2018, the Jury of the Artists of Tomorrow Award 2018, comprised of Charles Esche, the director of the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Erëmirë Krasniqi, researcher and director of Oral History Kosovo, Adrian Deva, artist and art educator, Jelena Vesić curator, writer, and lecturer and Amanda Parmer, Director of Programs at ICI - Independent Curators International, New York, have selected three finalists to the Artists of Tomorrow Award 2018. The Jury has issued the following statement:
The jury was delighted by the interest shown in the prize and the variety of artistic approaches amongst the applications this year. Members of the Jury who were part of the Jury in 2017 thought that there was an improvement in the overall quality of the artistic work and the proposals.
The members of the jury energetically discussed the proposals, returning to a number of applications for a second or third time as we slowly moved towards our decisions.
Happily, we were able to come to a unanimous decision as we questioned each other about how we responded to each candidates work and shared observations about what we could imagine them producing for the prize exhibition.
In the end, we chose three artists whose work covers a broad range of artistic practices current in Kosovo, including painting, text, installation, graphics and photography. The works share an interest in the relationship between local context and contemporary life as well as finding personal ways of processing the material and psychological environment of Kosovan cities.
There is an intimacy about much of the work while its implications are often social and political.
We all feel that the three shortlisted artists will rise to the challenge of the exhibition and the residency in New York, and we are looking forward with great anticipation to seeing their work ‘in the flesh’ at the exhibition in December when the Jury will meet in Prishtina to select the winner of Artists of Tomorrow Award 2018. The Jury would like to thank Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina for organizing the sessions so well and supporting us through the process.
We are very happy to announce that the finalist of the Artists of Tomorrow Award 2018 are: Qëndresë Deda, Altin Krasniqi and Dion Zeqiri.
The winner of Artists of Tomorrow Award 2018 will be announced on December 5th 2018, at the Boxing Club in Prishtina, in the closing of the of the exhibition of Artists of Tomorrow Award 2018.
Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina thanks all artists who applied for the Artists of Tomorrow Award 2018 for their work and collaboration.
Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina thanks jury for their work and collaboration.
Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina thanks sponsors and supporters of the Artists of Tomorrow Award.