LIMA.- MATE — Museo Mario Testino has been awarded the Luces Prize for Best International Photography Exhibition by Peru’s El Comercio newspaper. The honour recognises the exhibition Sin Censura, a presentation of works by Dutch photographer Ed van der Elsken (1925 - 1990) that was part of MATE’s annual Maestros de la Fotografia (Masters of Photography) series.

The exhibition consisted of 40 photographs captured between 1954 and 1983 in The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, France and other countries. Ed van der Elsken photographed people in the streets of big cities in his highly subjective and spontaneous style; his affinity to certain types of characters often marginalised in society explored and presented the brighter and darker sides of the human condition.

Sin Censura was held in MATE’s Temporary Exhibition Space, from August 21st until November 1st 2015. Over 1,000 people supported the exhibition with their vote.

MATE has been presented two Luces Awards to date; the first in 2012, for Best Cultural Entrepreneurship.

Founded in 1839, El Comercio is today one of the most important and influential newspapers of Peru. It has a daily circulation of 100,000 copies in the capital Lima and throughout different cities of the country. El Comercio features international and national stories on a range of topics covering culture, business, sports, travel, politics and education.

El Comercio’s popular supplement Luces focuses primarily on national and international culture and entertainment, and comes every day as a part of the newspaper. Once a year the supplement invites readers to vote for their favourite candidates for the prestigious Luces Awards. Categories for prizes cover the worlds of theatre, music, art and fashion revealing the best Peruvian talents.