The Sovereign Asian Art Prize

Founded in 2003 in Hong Kong, the Sovereign Art Foundation is a charity that raises money for disadvantaged children through art auctions. The first Sovereign Asian Art Prize was launched in the following year and raised USD40,000 ($49,925) for children in Cambodia, India, Vietnam and Mongolia, but the sum has since grown to an impressive USD4 million ($4,992,400). Over 300 entries were received for the award this year following proposals by a board of independent nominators.

The works are judged by a panel of five art experts around Asia – including Emi Eu from the Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI) – who view a digital version of the works online and score them on a scale of 0 to 5. The 30 works with the highest scores are then displayed, and the judges have a chance to view them in person and go through the same scoring process again to come up with a final winner. This year, the grand prize of USD30,000 ($37,443) went to Hong-Kong-based duo MAP Office’s piece ‘Back Home with Baudelaire No 5’. A selection of the shortlisted works will be exhibited in Singapore through April (concurrently with an exhibition in Korea), before the pieces go up for auction at W Singapore – Sentosa Cove on 3 May.  Gwen Pew

Photo (detail only): by Zhao Renhui