The Hasselblad Foundation is pleased to announce that Alfredo Jaar is the recipient of the 2020 Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography for the sum of SEK 1,000,000 (approx. USD 100,000). Alfredo Jaar is the 40th winner of the Hasselblad Award. The award ceremony will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden, on October 19, 2020. The following day, October 20, an exhibition of Alfredo Jaar’s work will open at the Hasselblad Center. A book about the artist will be published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, with an essay by Jacques Rancière.
The Foundation’s citation regarding the Hasselblad Award Laureate 2020, Alfredo Jaar
"Alfredo Jaar explores complex socio-political issues, bringing to the fore the ethics of representation. Through quiet and meditative works, Jaar confronts issues of great magnitude, bearing witness to humanitarian disasters and attesting to the impact of military conflict, political corruption and economic inequality throughout the world. His photographs, films, elaborate installations and community-based projects provocatively disturb common perceptions of reality. At the heart of his practice is what Jaar refers to as the politics of images, questioning the way we use and consume images, while pointing to the limita-tions of photography and the media to represent significant events."
The Hasselblad Award Jury which submitted its proposal to the Hasselblad Foundation’s Board of Directors, consisted of:
Thyago Nogueira, Jury Chair, Head of the Contemporary Photography Department, Instituto Moreira Salles, Brazil
Joshua Chuang, Senior Curator of Photography, New York Public Library, USA
Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger, Professor of Exhibition Studies and Spatiality, Academy of Fine Arts, Uniarts, Finland
Laura Serani, Independent Curator, Italy/France
Yiannis Toumazis, Director NiMAC and Assistant Professor Frederick University, Cyprus
"I feel extremely honoured and proud to receive this incredible acknowledgment. I would like to express my awe and deep gratitude to the Hasselblad Foundation and some of the former recipients of this award who have taught me so much, like Daido Moriyama, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Robert Frank, Susan Meiselas, William Klein and Henri Cartier-Bresson. I have focused the totality of my practice on the politics of images and this generous recognition gives me the support and strength to continue my journey in these dark times," says Alfredo Jaar.
"Alfredo Jaar’s poignant works and uncompromising research into the politics of images touch on aspects that are critical for photography. At the same time his art transcends media specificity, focusing our attention to burning matters of concern," note Louise Wolthers and Dragana Vujanović Östlind, curators of the Hasselblad Award exhibition.
About the Hasselblad Foundation
The Hasselblad Foundation was established in 1979 under the terms of the last will and testament of Erna and Victor Hasselblad. The purpose of the Foundation is to promote scientific education and research in photography and the natural sciences. The Foundation’s annual international award for outstanding achievements in photography is considered one of the most prestigious photography awards worldwide.
