Julius Baer, a leading Swiss private banking group, is inviting Southeast Asian artists to submit their digital art creations to the "Julius Baer Next Generation Art Prize" and vie for cash prizes worth US$60,000 (1.8 million baht) in total.
Held to promote the region's burgeoning art scene and a culturally diverse and technologically advanced arts community, the inaugural Art Prize is open to young artists aged 18 to 40 years whose entries reflect at least one of the bank's next generation investment themes.
They include Arising Asia, Digital Disruption, Energy Transition, Feeding The World, Future Cities, Shifting Lifestyles And Inequality, and Sustainability.
There are also two categories of digital art -- still images and moving images. The submissions can include digital paintings and drawings, digital print, digital photography, digitally manipulated image, video art, or virtual or augmented reality artwork.
Virtual artworks are also eligible but not virtual exhibitions (such as digital photography or videography of an exhibition/artwork). Digital documentation of artworks is not eligible either.
For the purposes of the competition, entries may only incorporate two-dimensional images. While artworks can be multi-disciplinary and incorporate other sensory elements, they must also contain a significant visual component.
All digital artwork must be original and completed between Jan 1, 2019, and Feb 28, 2021, in order to qualify for consideration.
The panel of five jurors will select 20 finalists, 10 from each category. Finalists will be assessed on conceptual insight, originality of visual expression and utilisation of medium.
The jurors include a curator of the Julius Baer Art Collection from Switzerland, two art collectors from Indonesia and Singapore, a gallerist from Singapore and a curator from the Philippines.
Three winners will be selected from each category and will each receive a cash prize of $15,000, $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.
The winning works will be included in the Julius Baer Art Collection which encompasses over 5,000 works spanning a wide array of media -- paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos, graphics and drawings. They are displayed in Julius Baer's meeting room, staff restaurants, offices, foyers and corridors around the globe.
The submission deadline is Feb 28. Visit juliusbaer.com/en/spotlight/next-generation-art-prize.
