Kyiv’s Future Generation Art Prize celebrates and champions global young artists

With 2024 marking the 15th anniversary of the award, the artists shortlisted for this year’s PinchukArtCentre’s Future Generation Art Prize go on show this week in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Opening on 4 October, the show spotlights new commissions by shortlisted artists Sinzo Aanza (33, Congo), Tara Abdullah (27, Iraq), Julian Abraham “Togar” (36, Indonesia), Andrius Arutiunian (32, Lithuania), Salim Bayri (31, Morocco), Castiel Brasileiro (27, Brazil), Giulia Cenci (35, Italy), Nolan Oswald Dennis (35, South Africa), Yasmine El Meleegy (32, Egypt), Bekhbaatar Enkhtur (29, Mongolia), Veronika Hapchenko (28, Ukraine), Dana Kavelina (28, Ukraine), Marie-Claire Messouma Manlanbien (33, France), Dina Mimi (29, Palestine), Sandra Mujinga (34, Norway), Hira Nabi (36, Pakistan), Ipeh Nur (30, Indonesia), Ashfika Rahman (35, Bangladesh), Buhlebezwe Siwani (36, South Africa), Zhang Xu Zhan (35, Taiwan) and Ziyang Wu (33, China).

Though the artists span a diverse geography, among the selected artists are painter and object-making artist Veronika Hapchenko, work engages with the USSR’s rich yet enigmatic history with the occult; and Dana Kavelina, whose practice centres on animation and who was automatically included in the shortlist as the winner of the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2022 – a national contemporary art prize awarded to Ukrainian artists under 35.

The winner of the 2024 prize will be announced at an awards ceremony on 29 October, with the main prize winner taking home $100,000 (€89,381) – split between a $60,000 (€53,628) cash prize and a $40,000 (€35,743) investment in their artistic practice. A further $20,000 (€17,871) may be awarded as a special prize between up to five artists for supporting projects that develop their practice.

Previous winners include: Angolan artist Nastio Mosquito who has since had solo shows at Fondazione Prada Milan and MoMa New York; Brazilian artist Cinthia Marcelle whose solo exhibitions have been shown at MoMa PS1; and Aziz Hazara whose work was commissioned for the 58th Carnegie International.

Though the prize has played a key role in platforming Ukrainian artists on a global stage, Björn Geldhof, Artistic Director of the PinchukArtCentre, believes it to be a powerful statement of openness and exchange beyond championing Ukrainian creativity.

“Now, working in times that are extremely challenging, the prize is also a show of strength and resilience… It shows that no matter what, Ukraine remains a country that is open to the world and remains engaged with topics and issues that concern others,” he says.

Those “challenging times” have been felt in the run-up to the exhibition, with the opening postponed from August due to power shortages in Kyiv owing to attacks on Ukraine's energy grid.

Who will the esteemed jury – which includes Cecilia Alemani, Curator of the 59th Venice Biennale; Alicia Knock, Curator, Head of the Contemporary Creation and Prospective Department at Paris’s Centre Pompidou; and art critic and curator Hou Hanru, former Artistic Director of MAXXI in Rome – choose as the winner of the Future Generation Art Prize 2024? We’ll find out on 29 October.

The Future Generation Art Prize exhibition runs from 4 October 2024 - 19 January 2025 at the PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv, Ukraine.