BREMEN.- This year the “Kunstpreis der Böttcherstraße in Bremen” (Prize of the Böttcherstraße in Bremen) will be awarded for the 46th time. From 28 July to 30 September 2018, the Kunsthalle Bremen will present ten young and promising positions in contemporary art. In recent months, distinguished curators such as Johan Holten, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Susanne Pfeffer and Bettina Steinbrügge have nominated ten artists from the German-speaking area.

The “Prize of the Böttcherstraße in Bremen” is among the leading and highest awards in the field of contemporary art in Germany. The competition features 30,000 Euro in prize money for the winner and, in 2018, it will be held for the 46th time in the Kunsthalle Bremen.

A prominent, five-member jury will determine the winner of the prize during the course of the exhibition. In the past, many of the prize winners and nominated artists have pursued significant careers. These artists include, for example, Tomma Abts, who was later awarded the Turner Prize, as well as Dirk Skreber, who received the Nationalgalerie Berlin’s Preis für Junge Kunst.

The following ten artists have been nominated for the 2018 Prize of the Böttcherstraße in Bremen:

• Heba Y. Amin (born 1980 in Kairo, Egypt, lives in Berlin) nominated by Bettina Steinbrügge, Kunstverein Hamburg

• Vajiko Chachkhiani (born 1985 in Tiflis, Georgia, lives in Berlin) nominated by Prof. Dr. Bernhart Schwenk, Pinakothek of Modern Art, Munich

• Alicia Frankovich (born 1980 in New Zealand, lives in Berlin) nominated by Thomas D. Trummer, Kunsthaus Bregenz

• Uwe Henneken (born 1974 in Paderborn, lives in Berlin) nominated by Prof. Dr. Christoph Grunenberg, Kunsthalle Bremen

• Lawrence Lek (born 1982 in Frankfurt am Main, lives in London) nominated by Ellen Blumenstein, HafenCity, Hamburg

• Michael Müller (born 1970 in Ingelheim am Rhein, lives in Berlin) nominated by Johan Holten, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden

• Katharina Schilling (born 1984 in Cologne, lives in Leipzig) nominated by Stifterkreis des Kunstpreises der Böttcherstraße, Bremen

• Arne Schmitt (born 1984 in Mayen, lives in Cologne) nominated by Dr. Eva Schmidt, Museum for Contemporary Art, Siegen

• Jeremy Shaw (born 1977 in North Vancouver, Canada, lives in Berlin) nominated by Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Serpentine Gallery, London

• Anne Speier (born 1977 in Frankfurt am Main, lives in Vienna) nominated by Susanne Pfeffer, MMK Frankfurt

The jury:
• Dr. Sabine Breitwieser since 2013 Director of the Museum der Moderne in Salzburg, previously founding Director of the Generali Foundation and chief curator for Media- and Performance-Art at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

• Fabrice Hergott since 2006 Artistic Director of the Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, previously Director of the Musées de Strasbourg and curator for contemporary art at the Centre Georges Pompidou.

• Dr. Thomas Kellein since 2013 independent curator and art advisor in Berlin, previously Director of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld and the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas.

• Adam Szymczyk Artistic Director of documenta 14, before director at Kunsthalle Basel.

• Susanne Titz, since 2004 Director of the Museum Abteiberg in Mönchengladbach, previously Artistic Director of the Neuer Aachener Kunstverein (NAK).