ICI is proud to announce that Nav Haq and Jay Sanders have both been selected by Hans Ulrich Obrist, as recipients of ICI’s 2012 Independent Vision Curatorial Award (established 2010). The honor reflects ICI’s commitment to supporting curators from around the world who have shown exceptional creativity and prescience in their exhibition-making, research, and related writing. The Awards will be presented by Obrist at ICI’s Annual Fall Benefit & Auction on November 19, 2012. Haq, currently a Curator at MuHKA in Antwerp; and Sanders, currently Curator & Curator of Performance at The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York were selected from a shortlist of upcoming curators who were nominated by 15 internationally established curators for the strengths of exhibitions or projects that they have recently produced anywhere worldwide. Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects at the Serpentine Gallery, gave the following statement about his decision on the winners: “The process of selecting the ICI Independent Vision Curatorial Award has been a great opportunity to see the work of an exciting new generation of curators; it has become clear that new curatorial forms are emerging in response to the ever-expanding geographies of art. In a way there should be no winner, or everyone should win, and I urge people to become familiar with all 16 wonderful finalists. Nominated by some of the leading professionals in our field, together their practices create a constellation of what curators consider as urgent globally right now, and offer a taste of art worlds to come. After long consideration, I have selected Nav Haq and Jay Sanders to jointly receive the ICI Independent Vision Curatorial Award. Each curator is establishing a unique voice, developing their practice by initiating projects independently, as well as having worked in a diverse range of institutions. Nav Haq frequently takes us into the polyphony of art centers, creating shows and projects that broaden the scope of our thinking. Jay Sanders stays close to artists, gaining a strong understanding of an artist’s body of work—both emerging and overlooked—so that ultimately audiences can know an artist deeper.” —Hans Ulrich Obrist, October, 2012 The award, including a $4,000 stipend towards a new project, is given every two years to an early or mid-career curator to support their independent practice. In 2010 and 2012 the Award has been generously funded by ICI’s Gerrit Lansing Education Fund.The ICI Independent Vision Curatorial Award is the first in the world to recognize rising curatorial talent. Doryun Chong, Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture at MoMA, received the first Independent Vision Curatorial Award in 2010. ABOUT THE 2012 IVCA WINNERS: Nav Haq has been Curator at MuHKA, Antwerp, since April 2012. From 2007-2012 he was Exhibitions Curator at Arnolfini, Bristol, and from 2004-2007 he was Curator at Gasworks, London. Haq was previously also a guest editor at Book Works, London, developing a series of artist’s books with the artists Rosalind Nashashibi and Olivia Plender. In 2011, he was a selection committee member for the British Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale. Also in 2011, he curated the inaugural MARKER section at Art Dubai, inviting experimental art organizations from across Asia and the Middle East to develop special projects for the context of the fair. Haq has also contributed to numerous periodicals including frieze, Kaleidoscope and Yishu Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, amongst others. Haq has curated many solo projects with artists such as Hassan Khan, Cosima von Bonin, Shilpa Gupta, Janek Simon, Katleen Vermeir & Ronny Heiremans, Imogen Stidworthy and Kerry Tribe. Group exhibitions have included Superpower: Africa in Science Fiction, co-curated with Al Cameron (2012); Museum Show – a major historical survey of (semi-fictional) museums created by artists (2011); Magical Consciousness, co-curated with artist Runa Islam (2011); the two-person exhibition The Sea Wall presenting works by Haegue Yang and Felix Gonzalez-Torres (2011); Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie: Class Hegemony in Contemporary Art, co-curated with Tirdad Zolghadr (2006-09); and Contour Biennial 2007, Mechelen, Belgium. In collaboration with Bassam El Baroni and Jeremy Beaudry, he initiated the online project The ARPANET Dialogues. Jay Sanders has most recently been appointed Curator & Curator of Performance at The Whitney Museum of American Art. Prior to this he was Gallery Director at Greene Naftali in New York from 2005–2010 and Gallery Director at Marianne Boesky from 2000-2005. Recent curatorial projects include 76th Whitney Biennial, co-curated with Elisabeth Sussman (2012); NUMINA lente, a three-evening music and performance festival, Clemente Soto Velez Center, New York (April 2011); Looking Back: The Third White Columns Annual, White Columns, New York (2008); Change our fates, hobble the plague, start with time, co-curated with Paul Chan, Lyon Biennale (2007). Sanders has worked closely with a number of artists including Tony Conrad, Bernadette Corporation, John Knight, Gelitin and the Estate of Paul Sharits to develop new projects. He has also programmed performance, music, and film exhibitions at such venues as the former Whitney branch at Altria, Issue Project Room, Anthology Film Archives, Sculpture Center, EAI, The Stone, Tonic, and for Performa. He is a member of the collaborative performance group Grand Openings, and has staged large-scale events at MoMA, the Bumbershoot Festival (Seattle), MUMOK (Vienna), the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial (Japan), and Anthology Film Archives for Performa 05 (New York). Sanders has written extensively for Artforum, Parkett, Texte zur Kunst, BOMB; produced and edited a DVD on Richard Foreman; published a book of Jack Smith’s drawings, and co-edited Poetry Plastique, with poet Charles Bernstein. Click here for more information on all the Nominees.

November 19, 2012- - November 19, 2012 @ The Prince George Ballroom