FORWARDS 08
October 11, 2008 – March 1, 2009
Opening Friday, October 10, 2008, 7 pm
Haus Huth
Alte Potsdamer Straße 5
10785 Berlin, Germany
DAIMLER AWARDS FOR CONTEMPORARY ART FROM GERMANY, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE USA
Under the name FORWARDS 08 the Daimler Art Collection is linking together three international awards for contemporary art. Along with the German-Japanese exchange program Art Scope and the Mercedes-Benz Award for South African Art and Culture, this year’s event in Haus Huth in Berlin also sees the presentation of the Emerging Artist Award given in conjunction with Daimler Financial Services.
FORWARDS 08 brings Daimler AG’s international and sustained promotion of young artists together for the first time in one exhibition: Daimler Japan launched the Art Scope Award in the early 1990s. A quick glance at the list of award winners to date shows that it was made to talented young artists who have gone on to represent key aspects of contemporary art in Japan. The Mercedes-Benz Award for South African Art and Culture was initiated in 1999. This award, given each year since in a different specialist area such as painting, sculpture, dance, poetry, music, photography and choreography, is recognized as the most significant cultural award in South Africa. The Emerging Artist Award, presented in 2008 for the fourth time by Daimler Financial Services 2008, is now part of a global network working to foster and promote contemporary art and culture.
Art Scope 2007/08:
Art Scope is the name given to a program launched in 1991 to support young practitioners of fine art from Japan and Germany. In 2004 the prize was restructured as an “Artist in Residence” program and opened up to young German artists as well. A joint exhibition of the work of the 2007/2008 award winners – Izumi Kato (*1969) and Yuken Teruya (*1973) from Japan, as well as the German artists Eva Teppe (*1973) and Ascan Pinckernelle (*1970) – was first shown in summer 2008 in the Hara Museum for Contemporary Art in Japan. The award winners for 2009/2010 have now been selected: Jan Scharrelman (*1975, D), Eva Berendes (*1974, D), Hiroe Saeki (*1978, J) and Meiro Koizumi (*1976, J).
Mercedes-Benz Award for South African Art and Culture 2008 – Art Projects in Public Spaces:
The renamed Mercedes-Benz Award for South African Art and Culture was awarded in March 2008 for the eighth time since 1999. The Award aims to promote artistic and cultural life in South Africa and recognizes the country’s cultural activity as a reflection of its social and political development and maturity. This year’s Award for Art Projects in Public Spaces goes to the artist Kevin Brand (*1953) for his pioneering art projects in public spaces. Special mention was made by the judges of nominee Samson Mudzunga (*1938) for his sculptures presented in the context of performances, which fuse art and culture with traditional rituals and ceremonials.
Emerging Artist Award 2008
The Emerging Artist Award was created by Daimler Financial Services and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2005 to honor a particularly innovative work by a graduate of this leading school of art. The winner of the Award is selected from among the graduates across all disciplines at the Academy, which is based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. With Annica Cuppetelli (*1977, Orlando, Florida) the award goes in 2008 for the first time to a graduate of the Academy’s Fiber department. The exhibition of Cuppetelli’s works, which examine the relationship between materiality, form and fashion, represents the first time the Award is on show at Daimler Contemporary. An accompanying publication will help the young artist to achieve wider international recognition. The winner of the Award also receives an art scholarship, combined with a one-month residency and networking and mentoring program through Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin.
FORWARDS 08 comprises some 30 works – including drawings, sculptures, objects, videos and installations, as well as projects for public spaces – by seven artists from Germany, Japan, South Africa and the United States.
Participating Artists:
Kevin Brand (SA), Annica Cuppetelli (USA), Izumi Kato (J), Samson Mudzunga (SA), Ascan Pinckernelle (D), Eva Teppe (D), Yuken Teruya (J)
FORWARDS 08 is accompanied by a comprehensive program, including artist talks, lectures and discussions with represented artists as well as thematic guided tours: These tours are available in German language on every first Saturday of a month at 4 p.m. (Nov 01 / Dec 06, 2008 / Jan 10 / Feb 07, 2009). Please check our website for updates and announcements. If you would like to receive regular information about exhibitions and activities of the Daimler Art Collection please send an E-Mail to: kunst.sammlung@daimler.com.
Exhibition catalogues are available at Daimler Contemporary, at bookshop Bücherbogen am Savignyplatz in Berlin or can be ordered online at: collection.daimler.com/publikationen/publikationen_e.php
Contact:
Daimler Contemporary
Haus Huth
Alte Potsdamer Straße 5
10785 Berlin
Germany
Open daily 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Admission free
Phone: +49 (0)30 259 41 42 0
Fax: +49 (0)30 259 41 42 9
E-Mail: kunst.sammlung@daimler.com
www.collection.daimler.com
