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Hiroshima Art Prize

Winner of the 12th Hiroshima Art Prize

The Hiroshima Art Prize, established by the City of Hiroshima in 1989, recognizes the achievements of artists who have contributed to the peace of humanity through art. It aims to appeal to the wider world through the medium of art in order to spread the Spirit of Hiroshima, which wishes for a peaceful world free from nuclear weapons. The prize is awarded once every three years.

Mel Chin
Photo: Miriam Heads

Profile of Mel Chin

Born in 1951 in Houston, Texas, USA and lives in Egypt Township, North Carolina. Mr. Mel Chin is an artist whose ideas are inspired by environmental issues and other complex social challenges and are conveyed in distinctive ways that are non-conforming to established categories. His multidisciplinary body of work, which includes sculptures, drawings, paintings, videos, animation, video games, and large-scale installation art, has attracted people from diverse backgrounds and cultivated their interest in societal issues. In addition, Mr. Chin has created long-term projects that explore how art may inspire social awareness and responsibility by collaborating with local communities and taking a scientific approach in art creation.
Over the course of a career spanning nearly half a century, he has been at the forefront of international art exhibitions, including the Gwangju Biennale and the Biennale de Lyon, as well as solo exhibitions at museums across the United States. In addition, a major retrospective exhibition was held at the New Orleans Museum of Art in 2014 and at the Queens Museum in New York in 2018.

Message from the Artist

The significance of this honor cannot be overstated. It comes as I live in an area ravaged by destruction in an era of human-induced climate change and as I continue to be a distant witness to the ongoing savagery of bombardments upon innocent and desperate civilian populations. As an American citizen my obligations force an undeniable complicity. The Hiroshima Art Prize strengthens a resolve to resist the support for this indefensible cruelty and protest such involvement. The prize obligates another commitment, to foster complex ideas and relationships to be tools in the pursuit of ideals aligned with resistance to violence and the expansion of empathy.

October, 2024
Egypt Township, North Carolina

Mel Chin

Revival Field, ongoing since 1991

Safe House, 2008–2010

Unmoored, 2018

Biography

1975 Graduated from Peabody College, Nashville, TN
1988 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
2007 Pedro Sienna Award, Best Animation, Chile
2017 Established S.O.U.R.C.E. Studio
2019 MacArthur Fellowship
2021 American Academy of Arts and Letters, Elected Life Member

Selected One-Person Exhibitions

1989 Directions: Mel Chin, Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC
1990 Viewpoints; Mel Chin, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN (traveling exhibition)
1991 Mel Chin, Menil Collection, Houston, TX
2006 Do Not Ask Me, Station Museum, Houston, TX
2014 Rematch (retrospective), New Orleans Museum of Art, LA (traveling Exhibition)
2018 All Over the Place, Queens Museum, New York
2022 Mel Chin: There’s Something Happening Here, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, Wis.

Selected Projects

1991— Revival Field
1995—98 In the Name of the Place
2006— Operation Pay DirtHavana Biennial

Selected International Exhibitions

1994 Havana Biennial
1997 Kwangju Biennale
2001 La Biennale de Lyon
2024 Prospect New Orleans

Winner of the 11th Hiroshima Art Prize

Alfredo Jaar Photo by Jee Eun Esther Jang

Established by the City of Hiroshima in 1989, the Hiroshima Art Prize recognizes the achievements of artists who have contributed to the peace of humanity in the field of contemporary art, and through contemporary art aims to appeal to a wider world and the spread of the “Spirit of Hiroshima,” which seeks everlasting world peace. This prize is awarded once every three years.

Profile of Alfredo Jaar

Mr. Alfredo Jaar confronts in a journalistic manner historical events, tragedies and social inequalities that have occurred worldwide based on thorough research and interviews. He conveys to audiences social, political and humanitarian issues through the presentation of his work in public spaces, photography, film and beautiful installations that appeal to all five senses coupled with the use of constructed spaces.
During his almost forty year-long career, he has participated in a number of international exhibitions including the Biennales of Venice and São Paulo, and Documenta, as well as having exhibited solo in museums across the world, which has earned him international acclaim.

Message from the Artist

I am extremely honored to accept the 11th Hiroshima Art Prize.
I feel enormously privileged but also deeply humbled by this responsibility.
In these dark times, the “spirit of Hiroshima” is more necessary than ever.
As Sadako Kurihara suggested in her magnificent poem Umashimenkana,
I must try, and I will try to “bring forth new life.”

Alfredo Jaar

About the Hiroshima Art Prize

The 7th Hiroshima Art Prize CAI GUO-QIANG, 2008
Unmanned Garden

The 9th Hiroshima Art Prize Doris Salcedo, 2008
Plegaria Muda

The 10th Hiroshima Art Prize MONA HATOUM, 2017
Remains of the Day

Purpose

This project aims to honor the achievements of artists and extol the possibilities of contemporary art and expression by awarding the Hiroshima Art Prize to the candidate who best expresses the “Spirit of Hiroshima.” A subsequent solo exhibition of the winner’s work will be held at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, which will increase awareness of both the artist’s work and the mission of the Hiroshima Art Prize and its significance.

Past recipients

  • The 1st: Issey Miyake (fashion/ Awarded in 1989)
  • The 2nd: Robert Rauschenberg (fine art/ Awarded in 1992)
  • The 3rd: Leon Golub and Nancy Spero (fine art/ Awarded in 1995)
  • The 4th: Krzysztof Wodiczko (fine art/ Awarded in 1998)
  • The 5th: Daniel Libeskind (architecture/ Awarded in 2001)
  • The 6th: Shirin Neshat (fine art/ Awarded in 2004)
  • The 7th: Cai Guo-Qiang (fine art/ Awarded in 2007)
  • The 8th: Yoko Ono (fine art/ Awarded in 2010)
  • The 9th: Doris Salcedo (fine art/ Awarded in 2013)
  • The 10th: Mona Hatoum (fine art/ Awarded in 2015)
  • The 11th: Alfredo Jaar (fine art/ Awarded in 2018)
　

Selection criteria

  • An individual or a group actively engaged in art worldwide (two-dimensional, three-dimensional, design, fashion, etc.)
  • An individual or a group engaged in creative activities related to the “Spirit of Hiroshima” or peace, and whose achievements are considered to correspond to the purpose of the Hiroshima Art Prize.
  • An individual or a group whose achievements are considered to be appropriate for exhibition.
  • There are no restrictions on nationality or age.

Selection procedures

The artists recommended by the Hiroshima Art Prize Candidates Recommending Committee, consisting of museum directors and art critics from various countries, are presented to the Hiroshima Art Prize Candidates Selecting Committee, made up of Japanese museum directors and art critics, and the prospective winners are selected. Based on the result of the selection, the Hiroshima Art Prize Recipient Selecting Council makes the selection of the prize winner.
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