By Maria Bregman
The CIRCA PRIZE 2023 is a prestigious and innovative award that aims to support and showcase the next generation of creative talent from around the world. The prize, which is organised by the Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Arts (CIRCA), will award £40,000 to two winners, selected by a jury of experts and by the public vote. The prize also offers a unique opportunity for the shortlisted artists to exhibit their work on digital screens in London, Berlin, and Milan, reaching millions of viewers every day.
The CIRCA PRIZE 2023 invited artists from various disciplines and backgrounds to respond to the CIRCA 20:23 manifesto, titled ‘Hope: The Art of Reading What Is Not Yet Written’. The manifesto challenges artists to explore and express the concept of hope in the context of the current global crisis, and to imagine and create new possibilities for the future.
The response was overwhelming, with over 1,000 submissions from more than 50 countries. From this impressive pool of talent, 30 artists have been shortlisted for the prize, representing over 20 countries, including Ghana, India, Vietnam, Lithuania, Albania, France, the U.S. and the U.K. Their works span a variety of media and genres, such as animation, poetry, music, performance, and activism, and address themes such as freedom, resilience, diversity, spirituality, and ecology.
The shortlisted artists are:
- Akiş Ka (Turkish, based in London)
- Annie Rockson (British, based in England)
- Blerta Kambo (Albanian, based in Tirana)
- Cemile Sahin (Kurdish, based in Berlin)
- Conor Ackhurst (British, based in London)
- Gabriella Hirst (Australian, based in Berlin)
- Gaby Sahhar (French, based in London)
- Harmeet Singh Rahal (Indian, based in London)
- CB Hoyo (Cuban, based in Dominican Republic)
- Keiken (British, based in London and Berlin)
- Prem Sahib (British, based in London)
- Linyou Xie (Chinese, based in London)
- Matthew Stone (British, based in the Wye Valley)
- Tizintizwa (South African, based in Johannesburg)
- Rashaad Newsome (African-American, based in Oakland)
- JJ Agcaoili & Xin Wen (Filipino, based in London)
- Deividas Vytautas (Lithuanian, based in London)
- Jérémie Danon (French, based in France)
- Joseph Noonan-Ganley (Irish, based in the U.K. and Ireland)
- Rene Matić (Caribbean-British, based in London)
- Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen (British and Belgian, based in London)
- Rita Mawuena Benissan (Ghanaian, based in Accra)
- Phuong Thao Nguyen (Vietnamese, based in France)
- Rosie McGinn (British, based in London)
- Tanya V. Abelson (Argentinian, based in London)
- Lorenzo Silvestri (Italian, based in Rome)
- Theo Triantafyllidis (Greek, based in Athens)
- Tony Albert (Australian, based in Sydney)
- Yiannis Pappas (Greek, based in Berlin)
- Liesel Burisch (Danish and German, based in Copenhagen)
From 1 to 30 September 2023, each artist will have their work displayed at 20:23 local time on London’s Piccadilly Lights and across the CIRCA global platform of digital screens in Berlin (Limes, Kurfürstendamm) and Milan (EssilorLuxottica). The works will also be available to watch online on the CIRCA website and app, where viewers can also vote for their favourite artist to win the £10,000 public vote prize powered by Piccadilly Lights.
The jury prize of £30,000 will be decided by a panel of distinguished judges, including Sir Norman Rosenthal, Chair of the CIRCA Advisory Council and former Exhibitions Secretary of the Royal Academy of Arts; Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries; Amira Gad, Curator of the Sharjah Art Foundation; and Arthur Jafa, Artist and winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale 2019.
The winners will be announced at an award ceremony in Piccadilly Circus on Tuesday 10 October during Frieze Week, London.
The CIRCA PRIZE 2023 is a celebration of the diversity and creativity of the global artistic community, and a testament to the power and potential of hope in these challenging times. As the CIRCA 20:23 manifesto states: “Hope is the art of reading what is not yet written. It is the art of imagining and knowing the self outside of the situations we are burdened with. Hope is a smart move – a call to action – it is all some of us have. It runs through the veins of our practice.”
