Nordic & Baltic Young Artist Award is a unique international competition that involves young talents at the beginning of their professional career. Altogether 77 young talents are attending the competition in 2020 – 14 from Estonia, 17 from Finland, 15 from Latvia and 31 from Lithuania.
According to one of the founders of the contest, Andra Orn from NOAR.eu, the competition has introduced hundreds of young talents to the wider public over the years. “The competition has turned already into a tradition offering a chance to get to know the young artists in the Baltic and Nordic region and to discover the common traits and the differences in the artworks of neighbouring countries,” she adds.
The contest is highly appreciated among the emerging talents themselves, Orn explains. She says that besides the opportunity to introduce the artworks to a larger audience, there is a considerable opportunity to catch an eye of gallerists and curators working at an international level that could lead to further cooperation.
“It is worth a while to take the time and discover what are the questions young artists address in their work,” Orn encourages. “For several years one of the main topics among the contest works has been the preservation of our nature and environment. Even though in 2020 the pandemic that has ruptured the world, it has been touched rather from a poetical point of view. As usual, the most common artworks presented to the contest are paintings – 90 of them, but there are also many interesting installations to check out,” Orn added. In addition to paintings, drawings and installations, there are also sculptures, video projects and performances.
The voting for Public Choice Award is open until 20 December on NBYAA.eu, where it is possible to check out all the participating young talents and their artworks. The artist whose artworks have gathered the most votes will receive the Public Choice Award – a monetary prize of 500 euros.
In addition, the international jury of NBYAA will select the winners of the Grand Prix (2000 €) and the Painter’s Prize (1000€) and together with Fotografiska Tallinn, a special Fotografiska Award will be handed out.
Nordic & Baltic Young Artist Award established in 2016, brings the best works from the graduation shows in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania together on a unified platform, making the selected artworks better visible to collectors, curators and art lovers of the Baltic and Nordic region. The aim is to introduce and identify the brightest emerging talents in the Baltic and Nordic region and support the newest generation of artists in their professional endeavours.
The Award is coordinated by contemporary art platform NOAR.eu in cooperation with Art Academy of Latvia, Estonian Academy of Arts, Vilnius Art Academy and University of the Arts in Helsinki.
Check out the artworks and vote for your favourite at nbyaa.eu!
