COAL AWARDS 2012 – THE NOMINEES

On March 13, the COAL Art and Environment Prize will reward the commitment of contemporary artists to current environmental issues. The winning project, chosen from among ten nominated projects, will receive an award of 10,000 euros. For this third edition of the Coal Prize, which focuses on the theme of Rurality.

Although urban issues are more often the focus of attention than our countryside, rurality covers a wide range of crucial issues related to sustainable development. Lifestyles, production and consumptionsystems , natural cycles, Coal invites artists to rethink this theme against the grain and invent a project for society that takes into account the complexity and complementarity of ecosystems. The theme of rurality covers:

– The management of resources and territories: territorial imbalance, landscape transformations, land use issues; – Cultural representations and social ties: agricultural culture, urban/rural identity relations, reinvestment in the “local”, search for authenticity; – Crisis factors: Intensive production, phytosanitary and irrigation issues, urban sprawl, pollution; – The environmental crisis: erosion of biodiversity, climate change; – Agricultural production and consumption systems: ownership, cooperatives, subsidies, distribution, consumption, rights and access to land, GMOs; – Lifestyles: food, neo-rurality, know-how, solidarity, peasant life.

This year more than 250 artists from about 30 countries participated.

THE 10 PROJECTS NOMINATED FOR THE 2012 COAL PRIZE ARE :

Maria Thereza Alves (Brazil), Seeds of Change

Brandon Ballengée (USA), Praeter Naturam

Cape Farewell(England), Sea Change

Andrea Caretto and Raffaella Spagna (Italy), Pedogenesis

Olivier Darné (France), The Queen Bank

Fabriques Architects and farm of Vernant (France), Polyculture

Suzanne Husky (France), Last wild bites

Kultivator (Sweden), Gran’s University

RADO (France), Pays de Tulle

Save as draft (France), Hurdles

The Jury of the Coal Prize 2012 is composed of :

Fabrice Bousteau, Editor in chief of Beaux-Arts Magazine
Anne-Marie Charbonneaux, President of the Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP)
Gilles Clément, Landscape designer, writer
David Edwards, Founder of the Laboratory
Jean-Guy Henckel, National Director of the Cocagne Network
Raphaël Ménard, Director of Foresight, Egis Group
Pierre Paliard, Art historian, professor and researcher CNRS
Pascal Yonet, Director of Le Vent des Forêts

The Coal Art & Environment Prize ceremony will take place on March 13 at 7pm at Le Laboratoire, Paris 1st. The Coal Prize, placed under the high patronage of the Ministry of Culture and Communication and the National Center for Plastic Arts, benefits from a partnership with the Laboratory and the support of Egis, Veja, as well as a private donor. The ceremony is organized in partnership with Food & Alternative Beverage and Hédonie.

Coal Price Catalogue 2012