Four commissioners – young professionals from the world of culture: art historians, art critics, curators – 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 2021 prizes are Eva Barois De Caevel (independent curator, art critic and publisher), Thomas Conchou (independent curator and mediator for Les Nouveaux Commanditaires of La Fondation de France), Morad Montazami (art historian, publisher and curator) and Marion Vasseur Raluy (independent curator and author). 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 chaired by Emma Lavigne (president of the Palais de Tokyo), and composed of: Sophie Auger-Grappin (director of the contemporary art centre Le Creux de l’Enfer, Thiers), Alexandre Bohn (director of Frac Poitou-Charentes, Angoulême), Cathia Lawson-Hall (Head of Coverage and Investment Banking for Africa at Société Générale, collector), María Inés Rodríguez (artistic director Tropical Papers), Camille Morineau (co-founder and chairwoman of AWARE) and Béatrice Salmon (director of the Cnap, Centre National des Arts Plastiques).
Since 2019, the laureates benefit from new conditions of visibility thanks to the renewed and on-going support of the Ministry for Culture.
The winner of the Outstanding Merit Prize will receive a EUR 10,000 grant and a monographic publication, containing an original interview for release in 2021. The collection of interviews is developed in partnership with Manuella Éditions for all the recipients of AWARE Outstanding Merit Prize since its creation. The first volumes, dedicated to Nil Yalter (joint winner of the 2018 Outstanding Merit Prize) and Jacqueline de Jong (winner of the 2019 Outstanding Merit Prize), has been launched in November 2019 and November 2020.
This publication benefits from the support of ADAGP.
The artist who emerges as the Prize laureate will have one or more of her works acquired by the Cnap collections and a production grant for a solo exhibition to be held within the d.c.a (French Association for the Development of Contemporary Art Centres) and/or Platform network (cluster of Regional Contemporary Art Funds).
The 2021 AWARE Prizes for Women Artists will enjoy the support of the Ministry for Culture, the CHANEL Fund for Women in the Arts and Culture and Elysées Monceau.