The Winners for the Prize for Young Dutch Art Criticism 2022
The main winners of the 2022 Young Art Critic Prize have been announced: Lena van Tijen wins the grand prize in the Essay category. Grand Prize winner in the Review category is Laura Herman. In the Innovative Art Critical Practices category, Zoë Dankert and Alix de Massiac win the incentive prize.
The winners were announced Thursday, 15 December 2022, at the awards ceremony at M Leuven in Belgium. The Young Art Critic Prize is an incentive prize for a new generation of critics and essayists from the Dutch-speaking world who write about contemporary visual art.
Grand Prize Essay Category
Lena van Tijen will receive a cash prize of 3,000 euros and one year of guidance from a personal mentor. In addition, her winning essay will be published in De Groene Amsterdammer and HART.
Main Prize category Review
Laura Herman receives a cash prize of 3,000 euros and one year of guidance from a personal mentor. Her winning review will be published in Tubelight magazine. In addition, she will receive writing assignments worth 1,000 euros from Het Parool.
Incentive award category Innovative art critical practices
Zoë Dankert and Alix de Massiac win a cash prize of 1,500 euros.
Basic Prizes category Essay and Review
The jury decided to value the other nominees with the following: the essay by Lara den Hartog Jager will be translated for publication on the AICA International website, and will receive a mentoring program from De Nieuwe Garde, an incentive platform for essayists. Loren Snel will receive a publication opportunity in the magazine rekto:verso and a mentoring program from the art editor of De Groene Amsterdammer. Emma van Meyeren receives a paid writing assignment from the Mondriaan Fund. Zoë Dankert receives a writing assignment from Metropolis M, for which she gets to go on a paid international trip. Both authors will also be offered writing assignments by Het Parool worth 500 euros.
From the jury report
In her beautiful essay Mag het weg? Lena van Tijen writes about the artists' archive. When are an artist's belongings of value? Van Tijen connects this question to her own experiences and memories. With this very personal note, she shows that an artist's archive is indeed a peek into the life of the person who compiled it.'
'The top prize in the Review category goes to Laura Herman. Her review of Camille Henrot's solo exhibition Wet Job at Middelheim Museum in Antwerp highlights the theme of motherhood.' Herman not only questions the position of women and the patriarchal norms and expectations they face. She also reflects on her own relationship to motherhood. She manages to connect these very personal and social reflections to the exhibition without becoming too essayistic or losing sight of art critical analysis.'
'In their podcast series Werktitel of Zoë Dankert and Alix de Massiac look at the work culture and norms and values that define the life of an art worker. To this end, they spoke with artists, teachers and other advocates. The jury considers the initiative, the critical and multi-voiced view of labor issues in the art world very topical and urgent in the conversation about art.'
The prize is an initiative of: de Appel Amsterdam, Kunstinstituut Melly, M Leuven, Mu.ZEE, Mondriaan Fonds, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Van Abbemuseum, Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond and Z33 Huis voor Actuele Kunst, Design & Architectuur
With thanks to: AICA Netherlands, Apache, De Groene Amsterdammer, De Nieuwe Garde, Domein voor Kunstkritiek, HART, Het Parool, Institute of Network Cultures, Knack Focus, Metropolis M, rekto:verso and Stedelijk Studies
For more information, please email info [at] jongekunstkritiek.net.