The François Schneider Foundation calls for Contemporary Talents Competition 2020. Generally, François Schneider provides support to artists by acquiring their works and presenting them at the Foundation’s Contemporary Art Centre via an exhibition and the publication of a catalog.

Each year, over 1,000 artists from around a hundred different countries submit applications. Moreover, after around thirty finalists have been selected by five Expert Committees, the International Grand Jury, chaired by Jean-Noël Jeanneney, chooses a maximum of four prize-winners.

Objective

The Contemporary Talents Competition aims to

• Encourage artists to engage with the theme of water; which has played a part in the history of art since time immemorial.
• Encourage them to reflect upon, observe, analyze, criticize, and make use of water in their creative work, exploring its properties, its symbols, its tools, and its issues.
• Offer the artists a platform to reach all sections of the public.
• Also, encourage dialogue and networking with the cultural community.
• Furthermore, develop the public’s awareness of contemporary art, particularly young people; and enable them, through the water theme, to experience and more easily perceive its diversity of perspectives.

Prizes

The annual budget of the Contemporary Talents Competition amounts to 160,000 euros.

• Each prize-winner receives 15,000 euros for the acquisition of their work.
• A sum of 100,000 euros is also set aside for the creation of works submitted in project form, as support for their production.
• The “Contemporary Talents” competition leads to a collective exhibition at the Foundation’s Contemporary Art Centre and a bilingual publication presenting the work of the prize-winners.

Criteria

This Competition is open to major visual artists, of all nationalities, at the mid-point of their career, the eligible disciplines are the following: painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography, video or any other form of plastic or visual art. For installations and sculptures, artists have the possibility to present either an existing work or a project. For a project, an attachment of the production budget is necessary.

Eligibilities

• Proof of professional artistic activity and/or being a graduate of an art school.
• Also, have a solid artistic background: work recently exhibited in institutions, galleries, festivals, etc. or have participated in an artistic residency.

Useful Links 

• Call for applications
• Individual registration
• Collective registration
• Access to your file