The Škoda Prize, one of the most noteworthy pedestals towards acknowledging the contemporary Indian arts, has made public its list comprising the talented domestic artists, who have been short listed for the third edition of the highly coveted prize. The jury is lead by co-founder of the esteemed Devi Art Foundation Anupam Poddar, Zurich based renowned writer, curator and art historian Mirjam Varadinis and the famous Indian artist Sheela Gowda. The jury panel selected top-of-the-line 20 Indian artists for the third edition of the Škoda prize, besides the distinguished Indian critic and art historian Geeta Kapur presides over the jury. The winner of the 2012 Škoda prize will receive a cash reward of Rs. 10 lacs, besides the envious title of '2012 Škoda Prize Winner'.
The 2012 edition of the Škoda Prize recorded the biggest number of applications in its history with several top Indian artists sending their best works for consideration. Evidently, the top 20 short listed candidates for the impressive title hail from several Indian metropolitans and small cities, such as Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi (NCR), Bangalore, Baroda and Pune.
The top 20 short listed Indian artists comprise Aaditi Joshi, Adip Dutta, Aditi Avinash Kulkarni, CAMP (Ashok Sukumaran & Shaina Anand), Mariam Suhail, Praneet Soi, Priyanka Choudhary, Rohini Devasher, Sharmila Samant, Hema Upadhyay, Jagganath Panda, Tushar Joag, Vishal Dar, Yardena Kurulkar, L. N. Tallur, Manmeet Devgun, Shilpa Gupta, Srinivasa Prasad, T. Venkanna, and Zakkir Hussain.
L. N. Tallur has been earlier nominated among the top 3 artists for the Škoda prize, besides Jagannath Panda, Vishal Dhar and T. Venkanna have shined on the Top 20 list in previous editions of the popular award. Interestingly, about 50 per cent of this year's nominations feature women candidates, who have outperformed the Indian male artists for the first time. Evidently, the CAMP is only association part of the 2012 Škoda prize.
Reportedly, the jury panel of the 2012 Škoda prize has selected the top 20 artists upon taking into consideration their individual shows in the country exhibited last year. Individual exhibitions of the top 20 nominated candidates were held in Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi (NCR) and Bangalore. The solo shows underlined the depth and cultural assortment of the contemporary Indian arts and comprise site specific, prints, paintings, photo, drawings, video installations, photo collages as well as performance art.
Expressing his views on the nominations of Top 20 Indian artists, Girish Shahane, Director of Art, 2012 Škoda Prize said, “Choosing the Top 20 was correspondingly more difficult this year as a result of which at least half a dozen really good shows could not be accommodated this year. This year’s list is a very good mix of established names and emerging talent.”
The most promising Indian artists considered for the 2012 Škoda Prize and featuring on the top 20 list comprise Rohini Devasher (creator of video installations for the show ‘Permutation’ at Nature Morte) and Mariam Suhail (creator of installations for the show ‘Breakdown of shorter concerns’ at Gallery SKE. Mariam Suhail was born as a Pakistan citizen and currently lives in India, besides being nominates under the new rules which allow all those domiciled in India to apply for the 2012 Škoda Prize. Other emerging talents include Aaditi Joshi (creator of an installation for the show ‘New Works’ at Gallery Maskara), Aditi Avinash Kulkarni (creator of an installation for the show ‘Alienation of the space’ at Seven Art Limited), Yardena Kurulkar (showcased an installation at the show ‘Transience’ at Gallery BMB) and Priyanka Choudhary (creator of an installation for the show ‘Tetanus Midas’ at Gallery Maskara).
The esteemed 2012 Škoda Prize presents a distinguished opportunity for mid-career Indian artists for exhibiting their best works amongst India's top artists, besides being recognised by the domestic and global art industry. Every year the artists nominated for the Škoda Prize exhibit their works at the top 20 showcase that attracts thousands of visitors. Girish Shahane curates the top 20 exhibition, which will open along with India Art Fair somewhere in February 2013 in New Delhi. Further, the short listed 20 artists will get an honourable mention in the annual Škoda Prize book.
