VENICE.- The 7th International Arte Laguna Prize, based in Venice, Italy and dedicated to contemporary visual art, is open to artists with no limits of age or nationality, offering a finalists collective exhibition at Venice Arsenale, artist-in-residence programs, personal and collective exhibitions, participation in international festivals, publication in the official catalogue and a network of opportunities.

Total Prize amount: € 180,000

Sections: painting, sculpture & installation, photography, video art & performance, virtual art

Participation: the contest is open to all artists, without any limit of age, the subject is free

Collective exhibition of 110 finalist artists: March 2013 – Venice Arsenale

Exhibition of a selection of Under 25 Artists: March 2013 – Romanian Cultural Institute of Venice

The Italian Cultural Association MoCA (Modern Contemporary Art), in collaboration with Arte Laguna, organizes the Seventh Edition of the International Art Prize “Arte Laguna”, aimed at promoting and enhancing contemporary art. The total value of the Prize is 170000 Euros.

The Prize obtained a medal by the President of the Italian Republic, with the patronage of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Veneto Region, the Municipality of Venice, Cà Foscari University of Venice, and the European Institute of Design among others. The contest features the awarding of cash prizes, the organization of an important collective exhibition in Venice, exhibitions in Art Galleries, Art Residencies and the publication of the official Catalogue. The Prize is divided into five sections: painting, photographic art, sculpture and installation, video and performance, and virtual art. Participants can freely choose the subject of their artworks.

TECHNIQUES
The Prize is open to all Artists, without any limit of age, sex, nationality or other qualifications. Each artist can participate with one or more artworks, in one or more sections. Technical details:

• Painting – works realized with technical and stylistic freedom (oil, tempera, acrylic, ink, vinyl, watercolor, graphite, pencil, collage, etc.) on whatever support (canvas, paper, wood, plastics, iron, etc.). The maximum size allowed for each work is 175 cm per side. It is possible to submit polyptycs as one single work, as long as they fall within the overall 175 cm; they must be submitted as multiple works if the total size exceeds 175 cm.

• Sculpture and installation – works created with any organic or inorganic material. Sounds, lights, videos, mechanical or electrical movements can be used in the works. It is possible to present the works as a digital photographic project. The maximum size allowed for each work is: base 4 meters, depth 4 meters, height 8 meters, and no weight limits.

The author of the sculpture or of the installation, if selected as a finalist for the collective exhibition, will have to provide the Head Office of the Prize with all the necessary material in order to exhibit the artwork.

• Photographic Art – color and b/w analog photos, color and b/w digital photos, color and b/w digital elaborations, works created on the computer. The maximum size allowed for each work is 175 cm per side.

• Video Art and Animation – videos, films and works made with all the animation techniques on any digital and analog support. Works must last 15 minutes at most, opening titles and closing credits included. For the final exhibition artists have to send the original works saved on DVD in high quality and in formats compatible with the mostly used reading systems.

• Performance – Every artist or group of artists can participate with one or more performances, using any technique, expressive form and with the use of any support materials. Finalist artists will perform live on the opening night and will have to provide all necessary materials for the realization of the performance. Each performance can last 10 minutes at most. Copyright and SIAE rights must be provided for works that include non original music or images, if necessary.

• Virtual Art - iFOPE: artworks entirely created using computer softwares, graphics, and 3D animations; artworks and videos created using smartphone or tablet applications; virtual installations, net art.

THE JURY
The selection of the artworks will be carried out by the Jury composed by experts and important professionals of Contemporary Art:

Prize Curator:
• Igor Zanti (Italy, Art Critic)

Panel:
• Umberto Angelini (Italy, Director of Festival Uovo)
• Gabriella Belli (Italy, Director of Musei Civici of Venice)
• Adam Budak (United States, Curator of Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden of Washington)
• Cecilia Freschini (China, Independent Curator; founder and director of lab-Yit | the Italian Contemporary Art Platform in China)
• Mario Gerosa (Italy, Senior editor of AD, Digital Art Curator)
• Lina Lazaar (Great Britain, Expert in International Contemporary Art for Sotheby's)
• Kanchi Mehta (India, Founder and Chief Curator of Chameleon Art Projects & and India Editor for Flash Art)
• Sabine Schaschl (Switzerland, Director and Curator of Kunsthaus Basel)
• Felix Schöber (Germany, Independent Curator)
• Claudia Zanfi (Italy, Art Historian and Cultural Manager)