THINKING SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
© Irene Barlian – Land of the Sea
© Adam Ferguson – Lake Huffer, Silent Wind, Big Sky
© Maya Goded – Healing, Earth and Body
© Pierrot Men – The washerwoman of Tsaranoro Valley, Madagascar
© Mónica de Miranda – Whistle for the wind, The Island
© Ana Elisa Sotelo & Sadith Silvano – The Spirit of the Jungle, Portraits of the Multiverse
The Thinking Sustainability Prize rewards a photographer who tackles an issue linked to sustainable development, through the prism of natural sciences or humanities. The aim is to contribute to an in-depth reflection on sustainable development, offering solutions and reasoning to anyone who is curious and keen to better understand the issues at stake on a large scale.
Ana Elisa Sotelo
“Ana Elisa Sotelo’s practice not only provides an insight into the contemporary languages of photography and its potential by producing entanglements between the captured image and the ancestral Kené embroidery and painting techniques and history. It also deals with issues of sustainability questioning the colonial fracture that separates the human from the non human and produces an extractive world-system. I nominated her for the Prize because I believe this mode of approaching art practice is essential to shifting the way we perceive and experience the world.”
I spent many months putting together a jury and selecting nominators who were different from the usual awards. I wanted new voices as well as established ones. I wanted new voices as well as established ones.
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18 nominators from around the world
The nominators, experts in photography, had to represent all the continents (America being divided into two: North and South). They had to be from the continent they were representing, or have lived there for at least five years, to ensure they had an in-depth knowledge of the local cultural ecosystem. They each had three months to select 3 photographers from the continent they represented (or who had lived there for at least five years) to take a thoughtful look at sustainable development in their own region.
54 applicationsThe jury – which had to be interested in the issue of sustainable development – is multinational with experts in photography as well as a poet, a philosopher, a multidisciplinary artist and directors of cultural institutions, in order to benefit from a cross-disciplinary view of the candidates’ proposals. The jury then had three months to explore and study the 54 entries suggested by the nominators.
6 finalistsEach member of the jury voted for their favourite artist by continent, then for their winner from the 6 finalists.
Finalists 2024
The nature and challenges of sustainable development are different from one continent to another, which is why each of them is represented.
To ensure a diversity of points of view, each edition of Thinking Sustainability – every two years – sees a complete change of commissioners and members of the jury for the Prize. All are selected for their unique voice and vision and the fresh perspectives they bring, often distinctly separate from those usually put forward.
These voices, whether emerging or established, have complete freedom to tackle the subject of their choice, suggest a photographer to champion, or vote for the work they wish to support. In this way, we discover a wide range of photographic perspectives.
Jury 2024Joël Andrianomearisoa Artist and artistic director, Hakanto Contemporary – Antananarivo MADAGASCAR/FRANCEEmanuele Coccia Philosopher ITALY/FRANCEYuko Hasegawa Director, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa JAPANLekgheto James Makola CEO, Javett Art Centre, Pretoria University SOUTH AFRICAJanet Laurence Artist AUSTRALIAMaría Wills Londoño Art researcher and curator COLOMBIATanvi Mishra Photo editor, curator, and writer INDIAVincent Munier Photographer FRANCEMarie Perennès Artistic director, Manufacture Saint-Louis, Hermès FRANCESelina Nwulu Poet ENGLANDMaría Inés Rodríguez Director, Walter Leblanc Foundation, Brussels and artistic director, Tropical Papers COLOMBIA/FRANCEAlexandra Tilling Brand manager, Maisons Marques et Domaines Ltd., Roederer Collection ENGLANDAudrey Bazin Artistic director, Louis Roederer Foundation FRANCENominators 2024AfricaJohn Fleetwood Photography curator, educator and director of the platform Photo: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICAOulimata Gueye Critic and curator SénégalJean-Sylvain Tshilumba Mukendi Project and artistic coordinator, Picha, Lubumbashi Biennial RDCAsiaRahaab Allana Curator and publisher, Alkazi Foundation for the Arts NEW DELHI, INDIAJoselina Cruz Director and curator, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, MANILA, THE PHILIPPINESSunyoung Kim Senior curator, Museum Hanmi SEOUL, SOUTH KOREAAbhijan Toto Critic and curator THAILANDEuropeGiulia Colletti Art historian and curator ITALYMarina Fokidis Curator and writer GREECEEuropeAlona Pardo Director of Programming, Arts Council Collection, London, ENGLANDNorth AmericaMagalí Arriola Director of Museo Tamayo MEXICO CITY, MEXICOSteve Evans Curator and executive director of FotoFest HOUSTON, UNITED STATESJane’a Johnson Critic and curator UNITED STATESOceaniaElias Redstone Founder and artistic director, PHOTO Australia MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIAAne Tonga Artist and curator TAMAKI MAKAURAU AOTEAROA, NEW ZEALANDSouth AmericaClaudi Carreras Guillén Independent curator and photography researcher BRAZILSofia Dourron Art historian and curator ARGENTINASara Hermann Chief curator, Centro Cultural Eduardo León Jimenes, Santiago de los Caballeros DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
