Now in its 28th edition, the Montblanc Cultural Foundation announces the recipients of its 2019 Arts Patronage Award. The award is given to art patrons from across the globe, recognizing those individuals whose unrelenting support and commitment gives the arts new ways to flourish. Through their various philanthropic projects, the recipients of this year's award are providing artists with the freedom and the resources to push boundaries, challenge minds and develop new ideas. Since 1992, The Montblanc Cultural Foundation has acknowledged this commitment every year with an award that has become an annual milestone for the global arts community. In 2019, the award recognizes art patrons in Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Korea, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, UK, and the USA. A total of EUR 200,000 will be contributed to support the recipients’ respective projects.
The award recipients were chosen from a broad list of nominees that were compiled by 50 internationally established cultural figures from around the world. The final selection was made jointly by the Curatorium of the Montblanc Cultural Foundation consisting of Anne Barlow (Director, Tate St. Ives), Sunjung Kim (Director, Gwangju Biennale), Jean de Loisy (Director, École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts Paris), Franklin Sirmans (Director, Perez Art Museum Miami), Jochen Volz (Director, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paolo), and the Foundation’s Chairmen, Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath.
In commenting on the 2019 Awards, Montblanc Cultural Foundation Chairmen Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath said: “The recipients in each of the countries and regions were chosen because of their outstanding history of personal commitment and support of the work of young and emerging artists and cultural producers. They each enable artists to create socially engaged work that benefits their respective communities.” Vincent Montalescot, Board Member of the Montblanc Cultural Foundation added: “This award sheds light on the patrons who make an impact on artistic communities and society through their passion and commitment. Through the years, it has become a platform that encourages new generations of patrons to leave their mark, by enriching the minds of audiences and inspiring them with the fresh creative perspectives of artists from all over the world.”
The recipients of the 2019 Montblanc Arts Patronage Award are:
Marcelo Rosenbaum (Brazil) receives the award for Várzea Queimada, a multidisciplinary residency whereby artists, designers and researchers develop new projects that seek to preserve the ancestral artisanship and way of life of the community.
Oscar Muñoz (Colombia) receives the award for founding Lugar a Dudas, a cultural center and art residency program in Cali, that supports emerging artists to meet, work and collaborate.
Sandra Terdjman (France) is being honored for her essential contributions to COUNCIL, a cross-disciplinary arts organization that fosters better understanding of societal issues, and KADIST, which through collaborations with artists, curators and art organizations around the world, affirms contemporary art’s relevance within social discourse.
Christoph Tannert (Germany) receives the award, on behalf of founding director Michael Haerdter, for Künstlerhaus Bethanien, an international cultural centre in Berlin with an artist-in-residence program that has established a lively dialogue between artists from various backgrounds and disciplines.
Robert Ho Yau Chung (Hong Kong) is being recognized for the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, a private philanthropic organization founded by his father. The Foundation supports exhibitions and research efforts that make Chinese arts—from ancient times to today—approachable and relevant to audiences worldwide.
Raffaella Frascarelli and Stefano Sciarretta (Italy) are being honored for the Nomas Foundation, a not for profit organization that promotes research within contemporary art through exhibitions, talks, seminars, and residencies for artists, curators and critics.
Tae-Young Chung (Korea) receives the award for two new types of creative spaces for domestic and international artists, Storage and Gapado Air, which support experimentation in visual arts covering architecture, design, and film.
Aimée Labarrere de Servitje (Mexico) is being recognized for her continuous support to several arts organizations in Mexico and beyond such as Fundación Olga y Rufino Tamayo, Patronato de Arte Contemporáneo A.C., and the MUAC (Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo) among many others.
Inna Bazhenova (Russia) is being honored for the IN ARTIBUS Foundation, a non-profit organization with the purpose of studying and disseminating classic and modern art as well as the promotion of Russian artists on the international art stage.
Han Nefkens (Spain) is being awarded for the Han Nefkens Foundation, which seeks to connect people through art across all its disciplines, and the Art Aids Foundation, an institution that uses art to raise awareness about HIV and improve the lives of people who live with it.
Felix Lehner (Switzerland) receives the award for his work with Sitterwerk, a foundation that brings together artisans, scientists and artists. With its Art Library, Material Archive, Studio House and the Kesselhaus Josephsohn, Sitterwerk has been a leading cross-disciplinary institutional center.
Valeria Napoleone (United Kingdom) is being honored for Valeria Napoleone XX Contemporary Art Society, that supports the acquisition of significant works by female artists for museums that are part of the Contemporary Art Society across the UK.
Jasper Johns (United States) is receiving the award for the Foundation for Contemporary Arts established in 1963 along with late American composer, John Cage. The FCPA’s mission has been to encourage, sponsor, and promote innovative work in the arts created and presented by individuals, groups, and organizations.
About the Montblanc Cultural Foundation
The Montblanc Cultural Foundation, based in Hamburg, was founded in 1992 with a mission to promote innovative thinking through supporting the arts worldwide. Amongst the core initiatives of the Foundation is the Montblanc Arts Patronage Award, which has to date, contributed more than five million EUR in prize money to over 300 art patrons and their organizations across the globe. Recent recipients include Maja Hoffmann (LUMA Arts Foundation), Yoshua Okon (SOMA), Sandra Hegedüs (SAM Art Projects), José Roca (FLORA ars + natura), Nadia and Rajeeb Samdani (Dhaka Art Summit), Solange Farkas (Videobrasil), Yoo Sang-Duck (SongEun Foundation), Julia Stoschek (The Stoschek Collection), and Leonid Mikhelson (V-A-C Foundation). Since 2002, the Foundation has also supported more than 170 artists to produce new artworks for the Montblanc Art Collection through its Artist Commission Program.
For more information:
Montblanc Cultural Foundation
Stephanie Radl
Hellgrundweg 100
22525 Hamburg
Germany
