“M17 Sculpture Prize: Roots and Pollen” Exhibition

ARTСult Foundation is an official partner of the event

December 17, 2020 – March 28, 2021

The M17 Contemporary Art Center hosts the long-awaited M17 Sculpture Prize exhibition, from 17 December 2020 to 21 February 2021. ARTСult Foundation is a partner of the event.

The M17 Sculpture Prize is the first Ukrainian professional award in the field of three-dimensional art. In 2019, it was launched by the M17 Contemporary Art Center together with Adamovskiy Foundation within the M17 Sculpture Project research direction. The Prize is held with the involvement of international experts and is aimed at identifying and supporting talented contemporary artists from Ukraine.

This time, the project invites to reflect on what the concept of the “roots” is to society in the contemporary world. Does the origin of the individual affect (directly or indirectly) his life, activity, creativity, worldview. What is the nature of constant motion, of searching for new territories, motivation to diffuse? The roots grow deeper and deeper. Pollen, for its part, can’t be contained or controlled, it flies at a wind speed to distant territories. But, settling down, takes root again.

Where are the roots in the globalized world? And how durable something that unrooted is? Where is the fulcrum, on which the art that lives in time and experiences it is focused? What will the artist see when he looks back, drenched deep in meanings of the cultures that raised him and gave him strength? What is his perception of beauty, his ideas about the origin of the world based? How is private correlated with the overall global?

The winner receives a prize
of 250 000 UAH

Based on the selection, a shortlist of nominees is formed. This time, there were 12 applicants (11 individual artists and 1 creative tandem).

M17 Sculpture Prize nominees:

Nominees’ finished works are presented in the M17 CAC at the M17 Sculpture Prize: Roots and Pollen exhibition, from December 17, 2020, to March 28, 2021.

Every nominee, except for the ones have submitted already finished works, receives funding for the implementation of the project selected by the expert jury (according to the author’s sketch).

The finished works of all the nominees are displayed at the M17 CAC. And the winner, which is determined based on the evaluation of implemented projects, receives a prize of 250 000 UAH*.

The focus of the Prize: sculpture, installation and other three-dimensional art.