MAYA WATANABE has been chosen as the winner of the Han Nefkens Foundation – ArcoMadrid Award, for the production of a video art work, on behalf of an international jury made up of Han Nefkens, founder of the Han Nefkens Foundation; Hilde Teerlinck, director of the Han Nefkens Foundation; Simon Maidment, senior curator of the National Gallery of Victoria (Australia); Lucia Casani, director of La Casa Encendida (Spain); and Florencia Portocarrero, curator of the public project AMIL and representative of the Museum of Art of Lima-MALI, (Perú).

RESOLUTION OF THE JURY:
MAYA WATANABE has been unanimously chosen for her professionalism and ability to develop complex issues profoundly and coherently, in addition to a focused and meticulous use of advanced techniques. Over the past four years, Watanabe has been working on hugely ambitious projects, creating a personal and innovative identity and language, consistently using her own voice. For the jury, it has been telling to get to know the artist’s work. Watanabe is an artist who will indisputably know how to take advantage of this opportunity to pursue new challenges in her work.

MAYA WATANABE
Born in Lima in 1983, Watanabe is based between Amsterdam and Madrid. She works mainly with video installations. Her work has been exhibited at: Palais de Tokyo, Matadero Madrid, Kadist Art Foundation SF, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima, and Kyoto Art Center among others. She has been featured in festivals like Videobrasil, LOOP, FILE, Transitio MX, Madrid Abierto, Havana Film Festival, and Beijing Biennale. She has also collaborated as a set designer and audiovisual art director for theatre plays performed in Peru, Spain, Austria and Italy.

The HAN NEFKENS FOUNDATION – ARCO MADRID award is intended to be a tool for increasing contemporary artistic production in the field of video art.

The award, consisting of the production of a video work, is aimed at any artist of Peruvian origin or nationality with a promising profile and international perspective, taking into consideration the country invited by the ARCO MADRID organization in 2019.

The production of the project will take one year in which the artist will carry out the execution of their work. Their work will then be presented in La Casa Encendida in Madrid, coinciding with ARCO MADRID’19.

The artist who wins will receive €3,000 for artist fees, and €12,000 for the production of the new video work.

In a second stage, with the hopes of facilitating the widest possible dissemination, the work is also presented at the MALI, Lima Art Museum.

Maya enrolled at the DAI, September 2016 and will be graduating June/July 2018.

http://hnfoundation.com/en/news-detail/52