Our sister edition, The Art Newspaper China (TANC), announced the winners of its second annual TANC Asia Prize on 22 November. Under the theme The Power of Innovation, the day-long event at the 21st Century Minsheng Museum in Shanghai kicked off with a morning forum, followed by an affiliated exhibition opening by the Japanese collective teamLab, and an evening awards gala.
The executive publisher of TANC Cao Dan describes it as a “nomadic” prize due to its annual shift of location, categories, and theme, this year exploring “what is the best way for young public of the digital era to understand traditional art?”
After a 2014 focus on Art Patronage “because private collectors and museums were very important to last year’s art ecosystem evolution,” says TANC editor-in-chief Ye Ying, this year was intended “to encourage fresh thinking and new moves on art projects, exhibitions and creations…to enhance content and software, and professional standards, in order to match the growth in hardware like museums.”
The nine prizes included the Traditional Chinese Art Exhibition of the Year, which went to the Suzhou Museum’s Four Masters of the Wu School: Qiu Ying, Tang Yin, Wen Zhengming and Shen Zhou. The prize for best Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition went to Mobile M+’s Moving Images project, and top international exhibition in China went to William Kentridge’s Notes Towards a Model Opera at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. The Art Program of the Year went to K11 Art Foundation’s international collaborations, while top art institution went to the four locations of OCT Contemporary Art Terminal (Shenzen, Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an). Shanghai’s West Bund Cultural Corridor took Outstanding Contribution for the Future of Art. The prize for best Chinese curator went to Li Zhenhua; best Chinese artist went to Zhang Ding, and Asian artist to teamLab.
