Alice dos Reis, Evy Jokhova, Francisco Trêpa, Inês Brites, Maja Escher, and Sara Chang Yan are the six finalist artists selected from approximately 600 applications for the 15th edition of a 20,000 euro prize, as announced today by the organization during a press tour.
The relationship between humans and nature, existential questions, and the pursuit of spirituality are prominently represented in the unique projects of these six artists. The jury, composed of curators Catarina Rosendo, university professor, Luís Silva, director of Kunstalle Lissabon, and Sérgio Mah, deputy director of MAAT and university lecturer, made the selection.
“There is always subjectivity in choosing, but the fundamental criterion was artistic quality,” emphasized Sérgio Mah at the beginning of the pre-inaugural tour, noting that the curators aimed to ensure conditions for artists to present their works without stylistic conflicts among them.
Maja Escher’s installation (Santiago do Cacém, 1990) features fabric objects, ceramics, and seeds suspended from the ceiling or placed on the ground, inspired by popular festivities to provide visitors with an experience that connects them to nature as a familiar entity, “challenging the current dualistic paradigm where it is viewed as something external.”
“I believe in the interdependence of all living beings and I’m interested in thinking about the ecology of places and the relationships between the people there,” stated the artist during the press tour, adding that her work stands against the notions of independence and individualism.
Born to German parents, Maja Escher was raised in Serra de Odemira, where the natural environment, local traditions, and wisdom influenced her work. She utilizes earth to dye fabrics, seeds, or stones that she discovers or receives as gifts.
In “The Maritime Tale of the Hermit Crab,” artist Evy Jokhova (Geneva, 1984) uses the life story of this species as a metaphor to reflect on the housing crisis in Lisbon, where she has lived for six years, and its impact on the social sphere and urban landscape.
“The hermit crab is the only species born without a shell and spends its life searching for one that fits,” explained the multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores the connections between nature and social structures and architecture from an anthropological, philosophical, and artistic perspective.
The installation, a large circular tent made of fabric, features the crab represented by pincers and serves as a reference to Evy Jokhova’s adaptation to her new city, while also addressing the rise in homelessness in Lisbon and other cities worldwide.
Francisco Trêpa’s (Lisbon, 1995) installation also focuses on nature, particularly on storks and their challenges adapting to artificial environments: “Many die electrocuted on power grids, which is ironic because they also damage these lines,” said the artist, who develops work around the ambiguous relationships between plants, technology, and other beings from natural or artificial worlds, transformed into his sculptures.
Titled “Cicconia Cicconia,” the installation incorporates ceramic, wood, paraffin, and wool elements, forming a structure featuring stork nests and sculptures in a scene Trêpa describes as “baroque sci-fi,” blending fiction, futurism, humor, and indications of renewal and hope.
Inês Brites (Coimbra, 1992), an artist based in Lisbon, created an installation inspired by interactions between people and nature, repurposing everyday objects made of resin or silicone, animated from within with water or light.
“I wanted to equate human presence with useful yet typically undervalued objects that reflect emotions and the vulnerability of today’s consumer-focused society,” the artist explained.
Meanwhile, Sara Chang Yan (Lisbon, 1982) produced “Feeling the Heart Full and Safe,” a work featuring various wall-mounted elements mixing symbols and colors, rooted in a process of refinement and exploration of drawing, space, and sensory perception relationships.
“I started drawing and removing everything related to the world’s reality, wars, politics, seeking the abstract and sensations that objects evoke. This way, I began to understand my inner structure,” the artist, who lives and works between Lisbon and the Azores, explained to journalists.
In this process, Sara Chang Yan – whose work expands the limits of drawing and examines how lines can exist beyond paper, interacting with light and space – expressed fascination with an inclusive God concept and spiritual experiences like prayer and intuition that have influenced her work.
Conversely, Alice dos Reis (Lisbon, 1995), a visual artist and filmmaker, presents a video installation titled “Oh Be a Fine Girl Kiss Me” and “Nuns Walk at Dawn, Noon, Dusk, and Night,” a narrative tapestry featuring a group of nuns, some pregnant, accompanied by cats, walking toward a mysterious unidentified flying object emitting internal light.
The artist explained her work has been inspired by gender issues and personal genealogy, particularly citing the work conducted between 1917 and 1921 by four nuns from the Suore di Maria Bambina community.
These nuns mapped nearly half a million stars for the Vatican Observatory: “They were chosen for their patience and great precision ability. They were called ‘calculating machines,'” explained the artist.
The exhibition featuring the six finalists of the 15th edition of the EDP Foundation New Artists Award will be open to the public from Thursday until September 8 at MAAT Central. During its run, an international jury will select the winning artist.
The EDP Foundation New Artists Award, one of the most significant in Portugal, was established in 2000 and became biennial in 2005, aiming to support and provide visibility to the work of emerging artists in visual and plastic arts.
Previous editions have honored Joana Vasconcelos (2000), Leonor Antunes (2001), Vasco Araújo (2002), Carlos Bunga (2003), João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva (2004), João Leonardo (2005), André Romão (2007), Gabriel Abrantes (2009), Priscila Fernandes (2011), Ana Santos (2013), Mariana Silva (2015), Claire de Santa Colomba (2017), Diana Policarpo (2019), and Adriana Proganó (2022).
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