Ithra Art Prize jury

Winner to be selected by contemporary art experts Dr. Andrée Sfeir-Semler, Balqees Fakhro, Farah Abushullaih, Murtaza Vali and Dr. Ridha Moumni.

The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) has announced an esteemed panel of international art experts as the jury for the fifth edition of the Ithra Art Prize. The jury will evaluate submissions for the contemporary art prize, which is open to artists from or based in the 22 Arab countries, with the winner awarded a grant of 100,000 USD in commission of a singular work of art. The winning piece will be unveiled during Ithra’s fifth anniversary celebrations later this year.

The Ithra Art Prize jury is comprised of contemporary art experts with diverse backgrounds: Art historian and gallery owner Dr. Andrée Sfeir-Semler, who opened the first white cube exhibition space in the Middle East before founding her eponymous gallery in Germany in addition to launching the international careers of several highly regarded artists; Balqees Fakhro, one of Bahrain’s most prominent artists; Farah Abushullaih, the Head of Museum at Ithra; art critic, curator and art historian Murtaza Vali, who lives between the UAE and the US; and Dr. Ridha Moumni, an art and archaeology historian who is the Deputy Chair of Middle East and North Africa at Christie’s.

One of the most significant art prizes in the region, the Ithra Art Prize supports the development of the art industry in the Kingdom and beyond while fostering cross-cultural engagement through the exposure of talent from the Arab world on an international platform.

Saudi conceptual artist Ayman Zedani was the inaugural winner of the Ithra Art Prize with his spatial installation Mēm, while London-based Daniah Al Saleh won the second edition for Sawtam—a digital, audio-visual presentation based on the phonemes of the Arabic language. Fahad bin Naif won the third edition for his installation Rakhm, which aims to conceptually preserve a nursery as both an urban typology and its “incubates” as an environmental micro-economy. Berlin-based Tunisian-Ukrainian artist Nadia Kaabi-Linke won for E Pluribus Unum—A Modern Fossil, which takes a reflective look at the effects of the pandemic on the travel industry and how humanity measures progress and economic growth.

Individual artists and collectives are invited to submit a proposal for the Ithra Art Prize by April 1, 2023. The winner will be announced in May before the piece is unveiled at the Center and joins Ithra’s prestigious permanent collection.

For more information on the Ithra Art Prize and to apply, visit here.