Louvre Abu Dhabi and Richard Mille announce the artists for the 2022 The Richard Mille Art Prize

Louvre Abu Dhabi and Swiss watchmaking brand Richard Mille have announced the 10 shortlisted artists for the 2022 The Richard Mille Art Prize: Afra Al Dhaheri, Ayman Zedani, Dana Awartani, Elizabeth Dorazio, Manal Al Dowayan, Rand Abdul Jabbar, Simrin Mehra Agarwal, Shaikha Al Mazrou, Vikram Divecha, and Zeinab AlHashemi.

The artists will showcase their works at the museum’s Forum in the second edition of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here exhibition, running from 18 November 2022 to 19 February 2023. The winner of the 2022 Richard Mille Art Prize, who will receive a $60,000 cash prize, will be announced during the awarding ceremony held in early 2023. 

The shortlisted artists were selected by a distinguished five-member jury featuring HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Chairman of UAE Unlimited, an art collector, and a patron of the Centre Pompidou, the British Museum and Sharjah Art Foundation; Morad Montazami, an art historian and Research Curator at Tate Modern, London; Hala Wardé, founding architect of HW Architecture, long-term partner of Jean Nouvel and the lead of the Louvre Abu Dhabi project; Dr. Souraya Noujaim, Director of Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management at Louvre Abu Dhabi; and Reem Fadda, Director of Abu Dhabi’s Cultural Foundation and curator of Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here 2022.

Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here 2022 invites artists to propose new or existing artworks that engage with the notions of “icon” and “iconic”. The artworks presented will explore how the concept of the icon resonates within contemporary art practices and how it informs new artistic perspectives.

Fadda said: “It is an honour to curate the second edition of the Art Here exhibition and to work with a museum that continues to champion contemporary art in the UAE and wider the region. I was thrilled to see the calibre of work the shortlisted artists put forward and believe that the exhibition will be stellar in terms of quality of production and discourse; a sentiment I am sure will be shared by our visitors and the cultural community at large. The creativity of these submissions is reflective of the strong regional artistic scene.”

The renowned international jury received 246 submissions from artists residing across the UAE and GCC, of which only 10 were shortlisted.

The submissions for Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here 2022 demonstrate exceptional national interest, with 79% of submissions being from the UAE. 18% of total submissions for this edition were from the wider GCC, highlighting the continued growth and development of the prestigious exhibition and art prize.