The Vordemberge-Gildewart Foundation awards an annual grant to support an independent visual artist or art writer aged 35 or under living in Europe. The foundation was established in Switzerland in 1981 according to the last will and testament of Ilse Engelina Vordemberge, née Leda, widow of the artist Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart. The foundation’s mission is to preserve the artistic work Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart and to promote young artists in his spirit. Artists and art writers are invited to take part in the competition each year in cooperation with renowned institutions throughout Europe. Since 1983, the foundation has awarded 37 grants. The nominees for this year’s award present their works at mumok until August 21, 2022.
The shortlisted artist for the Vordemberge-Gildewart Award 2022 are:
Ilkin Beste Çirak & Nigel Gavus, Rehema Chachage, Lukas Gritzner, Jojo Gronostay, Flora Hauser, Aklima Iqbal, Ana Likar, Irina Lotarevich, Marlene Maier, Theodor Maier, Cecilie Norgaard, Anne Schmidt, Myles Starr, Miriam Stoney, Laurence Sturla, Huda Takriti, Anna Tje, Johanna Charlotte Trede, Valentina Triet, Antoinette Zwirchmayr
Press Text:
Coming from different backgrounds, and presently working together as an artist duo, İlkin Beste Çırak and Nigel Gavus are searching for a synthesis of different media; film, poetry, literature, sculpture, and space are their fields of exploration, while their work is clearly structured and multifaceted. Their shared goal is to transfer invisible themes into a visual language and to question the role of visual “codes” in our society. Their collaboration addresses identity and belonging, and also the design of space in terms of relational art and aesthetics.
Their first film collaboration, Letters from a Window (2020), is seen as being far more than an artistic comment on the Covid pandemic and crisis—it is not just a film on a specific event. A women is looking back from a (hopefully) not too distant future. The perspectives on people, places, and objects constantly change. On the level of the soundtrack, a warm and gentle woman’s voice is heard in a constant flow, addressing someone called “N.” lovingly and longingly. She refers directly to the images, as if she were able to look out of a filmic window while talking. We are in her head, in her fictitious present. A short, long film also about time. (Birgit Flos)
The second film work, It’s on a day like this … (2021), is a digitalized 16mm film that portrays a young woman who spends her days evading reality by sleeping. She creates her own realm of unreality by addressing the things and objects that surround her. This essayistic film explores the feeling of inner isolation and holds up the image of a lonely and passive rebellion against the forlorn state of the world.