The Sigg Prize was established by M+ in Hong Kong in 2018, and was formerly the Chinese Contemporary Art Award (CCAA), founded by Uli Sigg in China in 1998. The CCAA was the first award for contemporary art in mainland China, and it was “a leading force in steering Chinese art and artists to the world, helping to frame the international conversation on Chinese contemporary art”. The CCAA was granted to 25 artists or artist groups and nine art critics over its history. Following twenty years of activity, the CCAA has become the Sigg Prize.
On 29 March 2019, M+ announced the six shortlisted artists of the inaugural Sigg Prize, which, inheriting the mission of the CCAA, recognises outstanding artistic practice in the Greater China region. The six artists, selected by a jury from among 31 proposed by five nominators, are Hu Xiaoyuan, Liang Shuo, Lin Yilin, Shen Xin, Tao Hui and Samson Young. The international jury, co-chaired by Suhanya Raffel and Liu Li Anna, included: Maria Balshaw (Director, Tate, United Kingdom), Bernard Blistène (Director, Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris), Gong Yan (Director, Power Station of Art, Shanghai), Lai Hsiangling (Curator, Taipei), Suhanya Raffel (Museum Director, M+, Hong Kong), Uli Sigg (collector and member of the M+ Board, Switzerland) and Xu Bing (Artist, Beijing).
The shortlisted artists will present works from the past two years in the Sigg Prize exhibition, to be held at the M+ Pavilion, West Kowloon Cultural District, from 6 December 2019 to 13 April 2020, curated by Pi Li, Sigg Senior Curator, Visual Art, M+. During the exhibition, in January 2020, members of the Sigg Prize jury will gather to select the winner based on the exhibition presentation, who will be awarded a cash prize of HKD500,000. HKD100,000 will be awarded to each of the other shortlisted artists to encourage their future practice.
The jury selection was made according to discussions centering around contemporary issues, especially in relation to the individual in a society in transformation in a global context and the ways in which forms of expression derived from various language systems, mediums and approaches reflect traditions and thinking across cultures. The six artists’ practices are experimental and deeply resonant in contemporary contexts. All six also reflectthe trasnational character of Chinese contemporary art practice, embracing many locations in their work.
The six artists display strong developments in their recent body of work, all responding to the jury’s expectations. Beijing-based artist Hu Xiaoyuan (b. 1977) encourages viewers to re-examine the nature of materials and relationships, She works primarily with silk painting and sculpture, but has recently extended her three-dimensional work. Liang Shuo (b. 1976), also from Beijing, experiments with Chinese tradition, analysing visual elements in daily life. Living in New York, Lin Yilin (b. 1964) has expanded his practice to incorporate virtual reality, while continuing his exploration of social dynamics through the body and performance.
London-based Shen Xin (b. 1990) uses fictional documentary to engage with notions of identity, gender, religon, social ethics and the art system. From Shanghai, Tao Hui (b. 1987) continues to develop and refine a video art practice that explores the body, emotions and relationships in cross-cultural narratives. Finally, Hong Kong artist Samson Young (b. 1979), winner of the first Art Basel BMW Art Journey in 2015, draws from his formal training in music composition to create experimental art. Hi sound works and installations propose new ways of understanding and communicating.
Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, and Co-chairwoman of the Sigg Prize, emphasised the importance of the selection in this inaugural edition of the prize:
In identifying these six shortlisted artists, the jury has defined the Sigg Prize as an experimental platform. The prize articulates a close relationship with the M+ Sigg Collection—arguably the most significant collection of Chinese contemporary art in the world—and a dialogue between recent history and current practice. By bringing the prize to Hong Kong and presenting it to a wide audience, M+ strengthens connections within the Greater China region and encourages public interest in and discussion of visual culture.