euward9 – The European Art Award
The Art Award for Painting and Graphic Arts in the Context of Mental Disability by Augustinum Stiftung

• Samaneh Atef, Belén Sánchez and Desmond Tjon A Koy are the winners of euward9
• On Saturday, 16 September, the jury selected the winners of the Art Award
• euward9 exhibition from May 2024 on at Haus der Kunst, Munich

The winners of euward9 are, in alphabetical order, Samaneh Atef (Lyon, FR), Belén Sánchez (Madrid, ESP) and Desmond Tjon A Koy (Amsterdam, NL). Last weekend (Saturday, 16 September), the jury selected the three artists who will be awarded the euward, the European Art Award for Painting and Graphic Arts in the Context of Mental Disability, by Augustinum Stiftung in 2024.

The award winners in alphabetical order

• Samaneh Atef (*1989) lives in Lyon, FR and was born in Badar Abbas, Iran. Atef's pen and ink drawings tell the story of women from life-giver to captive, from celebrated birther and healer to scapegoat and everything in between. A self-taught outsider artist, her symbolic works give voice to those who continue to be marginalized in our world today.
  
  
• Belén Sánchez (*1972) lives in Madrid, ESP and has been a member of Studio Debajo del Sombrero since 2008. Her drawings, collages, sculptures and films focus on her own body, with which she tells stories of aggression and healing. As a performer, she slips into the role of both evil and good. In doing so, she creates a tense space of action that enables her to both wander through the abysses of violence and always resolve the moral conflicts in a positive way.
  
  
• Desmond Tjon A Koy (*1993) lives in Amsterdam, NL and is of Ghanaian-Surinamese descent. He enjoys working with pencil and fineliner on subjects related to the culture of black people, religious history and music. Recently, his work has become increasingly concerned with the history and freedom struggle of the People of Color.

Since 2000, art created in the context of mental disability has a renowned forum in the form of the euward, which recognizes its special qualities and acknowledges them as an expression of a unique approach to the world and its perception. The euward always honors the complete work of an artist. It is the only Europe-wide award for contemporary artists with mental disability and enjoys worldwide recognition as an art prize. The euward is supported by international museums and cultural institutions.

The Augustinum Stiftung awards the prize every three years. The sponsors of this year's euward9 are Aktion Mensch, the Edith-Haberland-Wagner Stiftung and the Louisoder und Pfefferkorn Stiftung.

More than 240 artists from 25 European countries applied for the euward this year; the euward board of trustees nominated 19 participants for the prize. The jury finally selected the three award winners from this shortlist.

From 17 May to 14 July 2024, the award winners will be honored with a monographic exhibition at Haus der Kunst, Munich, and supported with prize money and a catalogue of their works with a total value of around 25,000 euros. At the vernissage and award ceremony on 16 May 2024 at Haus der Kunst, the ranking, places 1–3, of the award winners will be announced.

The euward jury, which met on 16 September 2023, is international in character with recognized experts from five different countries:

• Dr. Ivana Basicevic Antic, Director of the Museum of Naive and Marginal Art / Jagodina (SRB)
• Dr. Carine Fol, Artistic Director, CENTRALE for contemporary art / Brüssel (B)
• Dr. Monika Jagfeld, Director, open art museum - zentrum für outsider kunst / St. Gallen (CH)
• Prof. Colin D. Rhodes, Hunan Normal University, curator, author / Silverstone (UK)

Save-the-date: vernissage and award ceremony 2024

Thursday, 16.05.2024, 6 pm 
at Haus der Kunst, Prinzregentenstrasse 1, 80538 Munich, Germany
Vernissage and award ceremony with ranking, places 1–3, in the presence of the artists
Information will follow at the end of 2023 and at www.euward.de/en

  
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