Tag Archives: Loewe Foundation

Announcing the LOEWE FOUNDATION / Studio Voltaire Award

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Studio Voltaire and LOEWE FOUNDATION have announced the LOEWE
FOUNDATION / Studio Voltaire Award – a new programme benefitting seven
artists with two years of support through rent–free studio space, professional
development opportunities and a bursary. The second phase of the award, a new
year–long residency for an international artist to be based at Studio Voltaire, will
also be announced later this year. This major new programme coincides with the
reopening of Studio Voltaire in October 2021, following a transformative capital
development project.

 

 

The award has been developed in direct response to the urgent need for affordable
and secure workspace for artists. In recent years, there has been a significant
decrease in studio provision in London. The Covid–19 pandemic has had a detrimental
impact on artists’ lives, with many experiencing reduced opportunities, losses in
income and isolation. The LOEWE FOUNDATION / Studio Voltaire Award aims to
cultivate spaces where artists can connect in a supportive studio environment that
facilitates creative possibilities, risk–taking, experimentation and exchange.
The LOEWE FOUNDATION / Studio Voltaire Award has been established to celebrate
talent, individuality and original thinking within contemporary art practice. The
award will support artists at all stages of their careers including emerging and
underrepresented artists, particularly those who are marginalised or experience
intersecting forms of discrimination. The programme aims to increase and strengthen
equitable representation and access, and amplify artistic voices across class, race,
gender, sexuality and disability.
The two–year programme has been developed to provide a range of support including:
• A rent–free workspace within Studio Voltaire’s newly developed buildings
• A bursary of £2,000 for each artist
• An individualised programme of mentoring and professional development
• Curatorial and pastoral support
• Access to local and international audiences via public events programming
Awards will be allocated based on talent and need. Applications will be received
through an open call and via a group of selected nominators. Nominators include:
Sheryll Catto, Co–Director of ActionSpace; Languid Hands, an artistic and curatorial
collaboration between Rabz Lansiquot and Imani Robinson, writer and filmmaker
Juliet Jacques; Dr Mark Sealy, Director of Autograph ABP; Linsey Young;
Awarded artists will be selected by a panel of leading curators and artists:
Sepake Angiama, Artistic Director of Iniva; Andrew Bonacina, Chief Curator of The
Hepworth Wakefield; artists Anthea Hamilton and Elizabeth Price; and Studio Voltaire’s
Curator of Studios and Residencies, Maggie Matić and Director, Joe Scotland.
Applications are now open at studiovoltaire.org.

Three emotion-filled moments in the award ceremony of the 28th LOEWE Poetry Prize

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The protagonist of the first memorable moment of the LOEWE Foundation International Poetry Prize award ceremony in its 28th edition, held this past Thursday in Madrid’s Hotel Palace, was Enrique Loewe Knappe, the firm’s patriarch, who died last week. It was his son Enrique, the person behind the creation of the award, who remembered him.
Premio Loewe

Poet Chantal Maillard was responsible for the second one. Maillard, who generally shies away from public literary ceremonies and celebrations, agreed to present the work by Carla Badillo Coronado (Quito, 1985), winner of the Young Poets Prize, after finding that the words in El color de la granada were “devoid of gimmicks”. She believes that the Ecuadorian writer is “someone who knows that poems are not made, but rather found. Someone who remembers that a poem is a vehicle for humility”. She warned against prizes, which she feels can be double edged swords: distracting and illuminating in equal measure. She encouraged Carla to keep her focus, avoid distractions and “lie low when the bright lights come calling”. When Carla spoke, she talked about poetry as a personal trench from where she may “face life, face death and face herself”.

The third emotional moment (and humorous as well) took place when Cuban writer Abilio Estévez took the podium to introduce his friend Víctor Rodríguez Núñez (Havana, 1955), winner of this year’s LOEWE Prize. They both worked for cultural magazine El caimán barbudo during the 1980’s, the winner as the director and he, as a distracted copy editor. Estévez gave an overview of his friend’s book remembering that “up in the clouds no one is a foreigner” and that even after exile’s longest night “morning inevitably dawns”. When Rodríguez Núñez spoke, he quoted José Martí to highlight that “poetry is more important than agriculture” and closed by reading the last poem in despegue, the winning book: “mas este espacio tiene su compás / ni la muerte se apura llega tarde / por un sitio decente / a sacudir el ser con un trapito”.

Photo captions: Enrique Loewe, Carla Badillo Coronado, Víctor Rodríguez Núñez and Sheila Loewe © Uxío da Vila.