Prix Meret Oppenheim 2016

The Swiss Federal Office of Culture (FOC) honours three outstanding Swiss cultural practitioners with this year’s Swiss Grand Award for Art / Prix Meret Oppenheim: the curator Adelina von Fürstenberg, conceptual artist Christian Philipp Müller and architect and author Martin Steinmann. They will be honoured together with the winners of the Swiss Art Awards on June 13, 2016.

Adelina von Fürstenberg founded and directed the Contemporary Art Center of Geneva and, in doing this has largely contributed to the visibility of the local art scene, whilst also hosting many international artists. Through her work, Geneva has become a flagship city for contemporary art and many of its artists have later gained European fame or more. The jury distinguishes her as an outstanding personality, whose numerous initiatives have encouraged the Swiss art scene.

Christian Philipp Müller is an internationally acclaimed artist, with a unique artistic personality and the ability to constantly renew his practice. He is one of the few artists who analyses the context in which he is working and integrates this into his projects through the use of different media. Müller also dedicates himself to art education and actively supports the work of a new generation of artists. With this award the jury recognises the versatility of the artist, who is considered an important practitioner of contemporary conceptual art. 

Martin Steinmann has a profound knowledge of the Swiss architectural scene and has influenced it during his tenure as a professor at EPFL (Lausanne) with a variety of texts and publications. As editor of various magazines and co-organiser of exhibitions he has repeatedly dealt with the perception of architecture. Together with Diener & Diener architects and Felix Josef Müller he recently realised the acclaimed expansion of the Municipal Museum Aarau.

Jury
The jury for the Prix Meret Oppenheim is chaired by Nadia Schneider Willen (collection curator Migros Museum, Zurich). Its members are Giovanni Carmine (director Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, Switzerland and curator), Julie Enckell Julliard (director at the Musée Jenisch, Vevey, Switzerland), Andreas Reuter (sabarchitekten, Basel), Anne-Julie Raccoursier (artist, Lausanne), Anselm Stalder (artist, Basel) and Noah Stolz (curator, producer and critic, Geneva).

Awards ceremony and exhibition
For the second time, the Prix Meret Oppenheim will run in parallel to Art Basel, before the opening of the SWISS ART AWARDS 2016 exhibition. The award ceremony will take place on June 13, 2016 at 5:30pm (Hall 4, Messe Basel). Film portraits of the Prix Meret Oppenheim winners will be on show in the exhibition. Exhibition open daily from June 14 to 19, from 10am to 7pm. Admission free.

Publication
On the occasion of the award ceremony, the Federal Office of Culture is to release the publication Prix Meret Oppenheim 2016 with portraits and interviews of the winners. Samuel Schellenberg interviews Adelina von Fürstenberg, Philip Ursprung interviews Christian Philipp Müller and Daniel Kurz interviews Martin Steinmann.
Editorial: Manuela Schlumpf. Design: Marc Hollenstein. Photography: Tabea Feuerstein.

Prix Meret Oppenheim
The Swiss Grand Award for Art / Prix Meret Oppenheim was initiated in 2001 to honour artistic and architectural creativity. It distinguishes artists, architects, curators and researchers whose methods and approaches have exerted a lasting influence on our perception and have significantly enriched our encounters with art and architecture. The Award winners’ legacy has stimulated cultural dialogue in Switzerland and beyond and challenged the norms and forms of art and architecture in order meet the challenges of our time. The 40,000 Swiss Francs prize money is awarded by the Federal Office of Culture based on the recommendation of the Federal Art Commission.

For further information please visit: www.bak.admin.ch
For press enquiries please contact: media@swissartawards.ch