Art Basel: Discoveries Prize awarded to Nadia Kaabi-Linke

Prateek & Priyanka Raja, Experimenter; Nadia Kaabi-Linke, winning artist; Magnus Renfrew, Director Asia, Art Basel during Art Basel Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Hong Kong, China. (Xaume Olleros / Art Basel)
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Nadia Kaabi-Linke, who is represented by Dubai gallery Lawrie Shabibi and who is a former Abraaj Captial Art Prize winner, exhibiting her work in Art Dubai as well as Sharjah, has won a prize of $US25,000 at the second edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong.

The award was presented today to the artist, who is presented by Experimenter gallery from Kolkata at the fair. Kaabi-Linke is the winner of Discoveries Prize, which showcases solo and two-person exhibitions by emerging artists from across the world.

Her artwork In confinement my desolate mind desires explores the "notion of confinement, its multifaceted physical, psychological and social implications". Employing painting, printmaking and sculpture, the artwork reflects the breadth of the artist's practice.

Kaabi-Linke is a Tunisian artist who lives and works in Berlin.

She was chosen by an expert panel of judges including: Cosmin Costinas, Outset Curator of Contemporary Art and Executive Director of Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong; Juliana Engberg, Artistic Director of the 2014 Biennale of Sydney and Artistic Director of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Sydney; and Elaine Ng, Editor and Publisher of ArtAsiaPacific Magazine.

The jury said: “The judges in awarding the Discovery Prize were looking for work prepared to take risks but demonstrating a strength in aesthetics and content and a confidence of artistic language. The jury selected Nadia Kaabi-Linke whose entire presentation explores the body, trauma, entrapment and silence in an eloquent camouflage of minimal materials.”

* Art Basel in Hong Kong opens to the public today and runs until Sunday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.