Talents
Contemporains
International Contemporary Art Prizes
The
Foundation
The "Talents Contemporains" prizes
François Schneider is using his Foundation to create the "Talents Contemporains", international contemporary art prizes. Every year, a prize will be awarded to seven persons, with an exhibition of their work being organised in the Art Centre.
Candidates from all countries, all ages will be chosen for the following disciplines: painting, sculpture, installation, drawings, photography, video and new media.
The competition is open to all contemporary creators. The "Talents Contemporains" have three categories of prizes, with special conditions of participation.
A total of 300,000 euros will be awarded for the prizes, broken down as follows:
- Water Talent : 150 000 euros
- Gold Talent : 50 000 euros
- Silver Talent (3rd to 7th) : 20 000 euros
Each candidate can compete for the three categories if he wants.
Application submission
Terms (PDF)
The aims
of the prizes
François Schneider wishes, through his Foundation, to support creators, who have not achieved recognition from the general public, by acquiring their works and showing them to their best advantage in a well known venue that is highly appreciated. This is the reason behind the construction of the Foundation's Art Centre in Wattwiller in the Haut-Rhin department.
By creating the prizes, the Foundation invite artists to submit their proposals, realistic or utopian, figurative or abstract, on the theme of water, with an individual, sensitive response to the theme.
Two committees of experts – a selection committee and an international jury – will meet, one after the other, to designate the Water Talent, the Foundation's Grand Prize and the 6 others prize-winners for the Gold and Silver Talents prizes.
The works presented at the Water and Gold prizes will have to be necessarily of a major interest and with monumental character.
The Water and Gold Talents prizes have to contain a producing budget of 50% of the sum of concerned price.
The theme
of Water
Water has been present on Earth since its formation. It was indispensable for life to begin and for maintaining life within the aquatic ecosystems and on the continents. It is essential for human life and development.
In natural philosophy it is symbolically one of the four natural elements that, with earth, air and fire, make up the universe. Moreover, for the philosopher Thales, water is the first principle of things that are, and the other elements proceed from water: the Earth is made of condensed water, air of rarefied water, and at last everything return to water.
Thus, water is multiple and singular. It is at the heart of mythology and religion. It is sign and symbol, and its forms are changing continuously. Water has always provoked polemic, causing territorial conflicts resulting in changes, in particular because of its impact on people. Water may be a natural resource, but it is worth its weight in gold for a large part of the world.
Its universal character has of course not gone unnoticed by artists, of all periods. Still today, water in all its dimensions, is at the heart of contemporary life and contemporary art.