Winners of international art criticism announced

The Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum has revealed the winners of the 9th edition of the International Awards for Art Criticism.

The awards are meant to stimulate good writing, critical thinking, dialogue, and research in China, the United Kingdom, and beyond.

Michael Kurtz from London took home the 10,000-euro First Prize, which also allows for a short residency in Shanghai.

Zhang Chen from Beijing, Daniel Culpan from London, and Sun Wen from Birmingham will each receive 3,500 euros (US$3815.96) as the joint second prize winners.

The 9th edition of the IAAC attracted 292 submissions – 133 were in English and 159 in Chinese – from 36 countries.

The International Association of Art Critics evaluated the submissions with a critical eye on individual projects and curatorial approaches, as well as art institutions, museums, and art fairs.

The five judges on this year's panel were Nikita Cai, Associate Director of Guangdong Times Art Museum; Frances Morris, Honorary Director of Tate Modern; Jonathan Watkins, independent curator and writer; Lucy Steeds, Head of Art in Context at Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh; and Colin Chinnery, co-founder of the Sound Art Museum in Beijing.

"We are in a long way from knowing whether art is good or not; what's independent in this world is gone, I expect criticism that sits to the time and space where it's made, and content that unfolds the institution, it's the writer taking us to the journey of where he is, open up a window to the world of art I've never aware of," said Frances Morris.

In the summer of 2024, IAAC Exhibition Review Annual 9 will publish 20 reviews, Including the four award-winning ones, in both Chinese and English from the final selection.

The event is organized by The International Awards for Art Criticism, co-ordinated by the Royal College of Art and Edinburgh University College of Art, and sponsored by the Philosophy School of Fudan University and Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum.