Awarding of the COAL Prize 2011 – May 24, 2011

The COAL Art and Environment Prize 2011, worth 10,000 euros, was awarded to the artist Stefan Shankland for his project Marbre d’Ici. The Coal Special Mention for the International Year of Forests was awarded to the projects Beuys’ Acorns by Ackroyd & Harvey and Folia Apotropaïca by Object Oriented Art. The winners were chosen from among fourteen finalists by a jury of personalities from the world of contemporary art and sustainable development following an international call for projects to which 349 artists from 46 countries responded. The award ceremony took place at Le Laboratoire in Paris on May 24.

The 2011 edition of the COAL Art and Environment Prize

The COAL Art and Environment Prize, created in 2010 and worth 10,000 euros, rewards a contemporary artist for his/her work on the theme of the environment. In addition to this award, there is now a special honorary mention to promote a theme. Projects are selected through an international call for projects that invites artists from all over the world to submit artistic projects on the theme of the environment.

For this second edition, COAL received 349 applications from artists from 46 countries, including 23 European countries. Many renowned artists and pioneers of art related to ecology have participated. This success reflects the growing commitment of artists to environmental issues.

The award ceremony will take place on May 24, 2011 at 7pm at Le Laboratoire, the private art center dedicated to Art+Science research, in the presence of the artists and the Jury.

The Coal Prize, placed under the patronage of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication and the Centre National des Arts Plastiques, benefits from a partnership with the Laboratory and the support of the British Council, the Yves Rocher Foundation, the Caisse des Dépôts Group, PwC and a private donor.

The fourteen finalist projects are:

Beuys’ Acorns by Ackroyd & Harvey (UK)
Particle Falls by Andrea Polli and Chuck Varga (US)
Pegasus by Arnaud Verley&Philemon (FR)
Folia apotropaïca of Art orienté Objet (FR)
Rane-Char by Dr Daro Montag (UK)
Kreislauf de Das numen (ALL)
Super meal by Erik Sjodin (SW)
Topique-eau by Isabelle Daeron (FR)
Infinity Cubelab by Jae Rhim Lee (US)
The Migrant Ecologies Project by Lucy Davis, Shannon Lee Castleman & colleagues (SG)
Perpetual Amazonia by Lucy+Jorge Orta (FR),
Arctic Conquistadors by Olga Kisseleva (UK)
Dammed waters by Peter Fend (US)
Marbles from here by Stefan Shankland (FR).

The 2011 jury is composed of :

Bernard Blistène, Director of the Cultural Development Department of the Centre Pompidou and Artistic Director of the Nouveau Festival;
Dominique Bourg, Philosopher, IEP, UTT, member of the ecological watch committee of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation;
David Buckland, Founder and Director of Cape Farewell (UK);
Anne-Marie Charbonneaux, President of the Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP);
David Edwards, Founder of the Laboratory;
Philippe Jousse, Director of the Jousse Entreprise gallery;
Jacques Rocher, President of the Yves Rocher Foundation;
Jean-Pierre Sicard, Executive Vice President, CDC Climat;
Laurence Tubiana, Founder of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI)

The selection committee

The fourteen finalists were selected by a selection committee composed of Patrick Degeorges, Project Manager, Water and Biodiversity Department, Ministry of Ecology; Eva Hober, Director of the Eva Hober Gallery; Sacha Kagan, Founder of the Cultura21 Network; Sylvain Lambert, Partner, Sustainable Development Department, PwC; Elisabeth Reiss, Director of Ethicity; Billy, Private Donor, Coal; Céline Roblot, former Director of the French Ministry of Ecology; and Jean-Louis Bélanger, Director of the French Ministry of the Environment. In charge of sustainable development, Ministry of Culture; Theresa von Wuthenau, Coordinator and spokesperson of Imagine2020 and the COAL team.