Abu Dhabi: Bahraini-American artist Nasser Alzayani, who is based in Abu Dhabi, has won the first edition of the Richard Mille Art Prize, the Louvre Abu Dhabi has announced.
Alzayani was one of seven artists shortlisted for the award in October 2021, and he showcased his work at the ‘Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here 2021’. The Richard Mille Art Prize by the Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille grants Alzayani a $50,000 (Dh183,900) financial award.
Alzayani’s practice expresses a research-driven documentation of time and place through text and image, as well as found and cast objects. Incorporating themes of factual and fictional archaeology, his most recent work explores alternative narratives of collective experience.
“We are delighted to announce Nasser Alzayani as the winner of the first edition of The Richard Mille Art Prize. The collaboration between Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here and The Richard Mille Art Prize represents a further extension of the role of the museum as a space of interaction and exchange for contemporary art through our ongoing interactions and links with regional contemporary artists,” said Dr Souraya Noujaim, Louvre Abu Dhabi’s scientific, curatorial and collections management director.
“I am so thankful to have won the 2021 Richard Mille Art Prize. When I think back to when my project started, before it even made it to be part of this exhibition, it all really feels like it has come full circle. I would like to thank Richard Mille and Louvre Abu Dhabi for giving me the opportunity to be part of this exhibition, I am so proud to have been able to show this work. This experience has given me a lot more than art, it has given me the chance to build a community of peers I look up to and lifelong friends. I am very grateful for the support that this initiative has provided, and I am excited to see what the future holds for me and the other artists who will be given this opportunity,” Alzayani said.
Annual exhibition
Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here is an annual exhibition and art prize which will serve as a platform to showcase contemporary artists from the region working in a variety of media. Each year the exhibition will see several artists selected through an open call for proposals, each exhibiting one artwork in the Forum, a space of interaction and exchange within Louvre Abu Dhabi, dedicated to contemporary art.
The theme for the 2022 Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here annual exhibition and the open call for submissions for the second edition of the Richard Mille Art Prize will be announced soon.
Artworks from all Richard Mille Art Prize shortlisted artists are currently on display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here 2021 exhibition until March 27.
