Artists Shortlist for third Artes Mundi Prize announced

Artes Mundi is delighted to announce the nine artists shortlisted for the third Artes Mundi Prize. They are: Lida Abdul (based in Kabul and California); Vasco Araújo (lives and works in Lisbon); Mircea Cantor (lives in Romania and Paris); Dalziel and Scullion (artist duo based in Scotland); N. S. Harsha (lives and works in Mysore, India); Abdoulaye Konaté (based in Bamoko, Mali); Susan Norrie (based in Sydney, Australia) and Rosângela Rennó (lives and works in Rio de Janeiro).

The selected artists' work debates many of today's big issues. Man's destruction of the environment, AIDS' destruction of man and the problems of marginalised societies are just three of the issues reflected upon. We hope it will make for a very stimulating and thought provoking exhibition next year when the Artes Mundi 3 Exhibition opens on 15th March 2008 at National Museum Cardiff.

This third selection was made by independent curators Isabel Carlos from Portugal, the Artistic Director of the Sydney Biennale in 2004 and Olabisi Silva from Nigeria, who co-curated the Dakar Biennale in 2006. “Our aim was to select exciting, emerging artists who provoke and debate the fundamental questions of life and art,” said Carlos.

Take a look at some of the work by the shortlisted artists on our new website at www.artesmundi.org or follow the links below.