ARTIST RESIDENCY: ARTE LAGUNA PRIZE 2019

Nuart Festival 2019 has partnered with the Arte Laguna Prize to provide the winner of the “Urban Art Section” category with an artist residency at in Stavanger for this year’s festival.

The Arte Laguna Prize is an international art competition which takes place in Venice (Italy), aimed at promoting and enhancing contemporary art. The festival is honored to  have been a part of choosing the winner of the Arte Laguna Prize 2019; Jad El Khoury (LB). 

“The most important mission of contemporary art is to change the perspective of the mainstream. The Winner of Arte Laguna Prize for Urban and Land Art 2019 turns an entire abandoned building into a subtle choreographed urban object. The work addresses central issues of today but resists, weirdly and complex, open and beautiful.”

(Arte Laguna Prize, Winners, 2019) : https://www.artelagunaprize.com/archive/2018-2019/winners

With the presentation of his work Burj el Hawa (Tower of the Wind) Nuart and Arte Laguna discovered an artist who’s background and experiences give him a unique insight into the effects of the long term military conflict in Lebanon and ongoing political strife. The legacy of conflict can often be felt long after its conclusion and how people and indeed place deal with that legacy are instrumental to the work he creates. 

The Burj el Hawa required an act that seems to go beyond the brave, with Jad and his friends sneaking past the military guards that occupy the base of the tower to install the series of 400 material banners at great risk to their safety. We’re no strangers to night time manouvers but this particular stunt and its result resonated, the message can be felt far and wide, transcending the location and the act itself and creating a new chapter in street arts well documented history.