Initiated in 2012 in collaboration with The NYUAD Art Gallery, the 12th edition of The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award serves as a launch pad for aspiring artists across the emirates, encouraging new artworks and offering winners an insight into life as a professional artist, leading them through the process of commission up until the exhibition. Entry is open to UAE-based students and recent graduates.
Applicants may select any media with which they wish to work. This includes, but is not limited to, photography, painting, sculpture, film, illustration, land art, and multimedia. They are also encouraged to think creatively about how to exhibit their work in a public context.
The winning artist or team will be awarded USD 10,000 to complete their installation. In the true spirit of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work, the winning artwork will be unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art on November 21 with a touring exhibition to follow, which will include NYU Abu Dhabi, Um El Emarat Park, and Jubail Mangrove Park.
Last year’s winners, NYUAD graduate and award-winning artist Vivi Zhu, University of Sharjah graduate and BFA-holder Majd Alloush, and Palestinian-Jordanian artist Hala El Abora, submitted Shaheeq, a piece on the UAE’s mangrove ecosystems encouraging appreciation for the natural solutions they offer in the face of growing climate concerns. The piece promotes a positive philosophy towards ‘metaphysical grief’ resulting from the climate crisis.
Internationally acclaimed artists Christo and his wife and artistic partner Jeanne-Claude had a relationship with the UAE spanning four decades. It was Christo’s desire to support emerging artists in the UAE that resulted in the creation of an award in his name in 2012. Christo and Jeanne-Claude created highly celebrated works of art around the world, changing the concept of “public art” by creating temporary works that were transitory by design. Jeanne-Claude passed away in November 2009, and Christo died in 2020.
To apply, all entrants need to complete an application form, which includes a proposed budget and schedule.
About The NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery
Established in 2014, The NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Art Gallery is the Gulf’s first of its kind, and among the only university galleries in the region with a program of scholarly and experimental museum exhibitions. Supporting the progress made by other arts institutions within the UAE, The NYUAD Art Gallery and the projects it supports serve the local arts community as a testing ground for new and innovative curatorial approaches that nourish the dialogue around exhibition practice in the Gulf. The program is recognized for mapping new territories and ideas, presenting exhibitions by internationally established artists, curators, and scholars. A regular book publication program is a core part of its curatorial frame within its academic mission. In addition, its auxiliary venue, the Project Space, is an exhibition laboratory for UAE-based artists and curators Situated within NYU Abu Dhabi, the community of which hails from over 125 countries, the Gallery, the Project Space, and the Gallery’s Reading Room collectively open up artistic opportunities and initiate regional and global dialogue.
For more information, please visit www.nyuad-artgallery.org.
About NYU Abu Dhabi
NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and research campus in the Middle East to be operated abroad by a major American research university. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated a highly selective program with majors in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, arts, and humanities with a world center for advanced research. Its campus enables students to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world, and to advance cooperation and progress on humanity’s shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabi’s high-achieving students have come from over 125 countries and speak over 100 languages. Together, NYU’s campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of the numerous study-abroad sites NYU maintains on six continents.
For more information, please visit https://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/.
About Christo and Jeanne-Claude
For half a century, internationally acclaimed artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude created highly celebrated works of art around the world. Together, they changed the concept of “public art” by creating temporary works that were truly transitory by design. Jeanne-Claude passed away in November 2009, and Christo sadly died on May 31, 2020.
