On March 18, 2019, the AWARE Prizes for Women Artists were awarded by the Ministry for Culture, with the support of the CHANEL Fund for Women in the Arts and Culture to Hélène Bertin for the Prize, and Jacqueline de Jong for the Oustanding Merit Prize, in recognition of her exceptional career and her recently highlighted work.

Four commissioners – young professionals from the world of culture: art historians, art critics, museum and art centre directors – have each selected two artists whose names are respectively entered in the Prize (for artists whose career began less than 10 years ago) and for the Outstanding Merit Prize (for artists whose career began 30 years ago or more).

The commissioners for the 2019 prizes are Gallien Déjean (art critic, curator, and professor at the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne – ECAL), Céline Poulin (director of CAC-Brétigny), Sonia Recasens (art critic and independent curator), and Joël Riff (curator, author, and teacher at the École Duperré in Paris). They will present and defend the work of their selected artists in front of seven leading figures in the world of culture.

This panel is composed of Alfred Pacquement (honorary general heritage conservation officer, former director of the musée national d’Art moderne – Centre Georges-Pompidou), president of the panel, Manuel Borja-Villel (director of the Museo nacional centro de arte Reina Sofia, Madrid), Marie Cozette (director of the Crac Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée, Sète), Fanny Gonella (director of 49 Nord Est – Frac Lorraine, Metz), Camille Morineau (director of exhibitions and collections of the Monnaie de Paris, co-founder and chairwoman of AWARE), Catherine Petitgas (collector and art historian), Yves Robert (director of the Centre National des Arts Plastiques – Cnap).

New conditions of visibility for artists thanks to the renewed support of the Ministry of Culture

For the 2017 and 2018 editions, the 8 artists nominated for the competition were part of a collective exhibition. In order to broaden the visibility of artists beyond the limited circle of the Parisian public, new modes of presentation of the artists’ work will be established for the 2019 edition, notably thanks to the renewed and on-going support of the Ministry of Culture.

The winner of the Outstanding Merit Prize will enjoy a 10 000 grant and a monographic publication, containing an original interview, for release in 2020. Éditions Manuella will devote a dedicated collection to the AWARE Outstanding Merit prizewinner.

The artist who emerges as the Prize laureate will have one or more of their works acquired by the Cnap collections and will enjoy a production grant for a solo exhibition to be held within the D.C.A. network (French Association for the Development of Contemporary Art Centres) and/or platform (cluster of Regional Contemporary Art Funds).

The AWARE Prizes for Women Artists will enjoy the support of the Ministry for Culture and the CHANEL Fund for Women in the Arts and Culture.