The Queen Sonja Nordic Art Award 2014

The Queen Sonja Nordic Art Award was presented for the second time during a ceremony at Oslo City Hall on Tuesday afternoon. The award went to the multifaceted Danish artist Svend-Allan Sørensen.

Svend-Allan Sørensen is a unique voice within contemporary art. He works in several different genres, such as painting, installations, photography and video, although his main focus is on various types of graphic art. He often brings the world of animals - especially birds - into his art and explores the thematic relationship between nature and culture.

The award

After Project Manager Sune Nordgren read the jury’s decision, Queen Sonja herself presented the award to Mr Sørensen. The award consists of a cash prize of NOK 400 000 and a one-week educational stay at the art studio Atelje Larsen in Helsingborg, Sweden.

An international distinction

The Queen Sonja Nordic Art Award has recognised only Nordic artists since the establishment of the Foundation in 2011. On Tuesday afternoon the Queen announced that the award now would become an international distinction.

“Today I have the pleasure of presenting some important news,” said the Queen. “We are now taking the award a major step further. The Foundation’s board has decided to make it an international award! The next time we present the award we will search throughout the world for the best candidates – and then, to the best of my knowledge, we will be the world’s largest graphic art award.”

As a result, the name of the award ha been changed to the Queen Sonja Print Award - accompanied by both a new graphic profile and a new website.

Praiseworthy

Starting on Friday, 30 May 2014, the works of all the artists nominated for this year’s award will be on display in a joint exhibition entitled Prisverdig (“Praiseworthy”) at the Association of Norwegian Printmakers:

• Adam Saks, Denmark
• Annu Vertanen, Finland
• Valgerdur Hauksdottir, Iceland
• Minako Masui, Sweden
• Ane Mette Hoel, Norway
• Tuula Lehtinen, Finland
• Elina Sipilä, Finland
• Hugleikur Dagsson, Iceland
• Cathrine Dahl and Ørjan Aas, Norway
• Daniel Milan, Denmark
• Vappu Johansson, Finland
• Svend-Allan Sørensen, Denmark
• Mikael Kihlman, Sweden

The artists were nominated for the award by the national museums in the five Nordic countries and by the Nordic graphic art organisations.

Tiina Kivinen, the recipient of the 2012 award, will also participate in the exhibition.