The Carnegie Art Award was established in 1998 to support skilled artists in the Nordic countries and to promote contemporary painting. In slightly less than a decade, it has become an established and recognized part of the Nordic art scene. With a total prize sum of SEK 2.1m, the Carnegie Art Award is one of the world’s largest art awards. Several of the artists recognized through the Carnegie Art Award are now known not only in the Nordic region, but also internationally.
Carnegie Art Award has been established to recognise and support distinguished Nordic artists born or living in the Nordic countries and to promote Nordic contemporary painting. The event initiated in 1998 takes place every second year since 2003 and consists of four parts; an exhibition which tours the Nordic countries, a book presenting the participating artists and their works, a film portraying the artists, and awards to four of the artists for their works.
The Carnegie Art Award is intended for artists born or living in the Nordic countries. Artists who have participated previously in the Carnegie Art Award exhibition can be nominated again. All nominated artists are invited to contribute up to five works each. The works have to be produced during the last two years, to capture the current state of Nordic contemporary painting.
During the time the Carnegie Art Award has existed, interest in contemporary art has increased significantly among media, the public, companies, museums and auction houses. In connection with the 10 year anniversary, eight annual editions of the Carnegie Art Award have been shown, resulting in 50 exhibitions in seven countries in which a total of 140 Nordic artists have participated. A total of 308,000 persons have visited the exhibitions thus far. Seminars and talks with the artists have been held in all cities and continue to be arranged in conjunction with the exhibition. The public and thousands of schoolchildren have been guided among the works.
Read more at www.carnegieartaward.com.