AwardAugust 28, 2023
Cecilia Vicuña wins the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas 2023 (National Fine Arts Award 2023).
The Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage announced last August 16, from the Pereira Palace, Chile, the recognition to Cecilia Vicuña for "a life dedicated to art and a work that has been valued both internationally and in our country. With subtlety and profound creativity, Vicuña has explored the dimensions of the ephemeral and the perishable to teach us to see the transcendence of the immaterial."
El Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas 2023 was awarded after a session of members of the jury gathered at the Pereira Palace where Carolina Arredondo, Minister of Cultures, announced the award. The artist was in the United States and connected by videocall for the official report and commented: "for me it is a deep emotion because this will allow my legacy to reach the children of the future of Chile. That was my dream, that my life would begin beyond my death, and now with this award it will be materialized. The important thing is that these thoughts, this feeling, this way of being ours, is what we have to love and value above all things. The earth will heal when we heal, when we stop acting with violence and hate. I thank you with all my heart for making this gift to Chile possible." Likewise, the minister assured that Vicuña's work had relevance for the cultural and artistic history in Chile.
The judges included the rector of the Universidad de Chile (University of Chile), Rosa Devés, the artist and last winner of the Prize, Francisco Gazitúa, the representative of the Academia de Bellas Artes (Academy of Fine Arts), Enrique Zamudio, the rector of the Universidad de Santiago de Chile (University of Santiago de Chile), Rodrigo Vidal, the historian Catalina Valdés, and the sculptor Francisca Cerda. The official document mentions that Vicuña's work relates rituality, poetry and textile art, bringing to the present American ancestralities and traditions as a source for creativity. Also, Vicuña's work inspires to face the urgencies of the present time without fear, but with a sense of responsibility, care, simplicity and strategies of resistance in the face of the uncertainty of the contemporary world.
El Premio Nacional (National Prize) is one of the highest awards given by the State of Chile to the work of outstanding national artists for their excellence, creativity and contribution to national culture in the development of knowledge and the arts. Some of the awarded artists are: Francisco Gazitúa Costabal (2021), Eduardo Vilches Prieto (2019), Paz Errázuriz (2017), Roser Bru (2015), Alfredo Jaar (2013), Gracia Barrios (2011) and Federico Assler (2009).
Cecilia Vicuña approaches concepts such as the earth, women, indigenous cosmovision and social struggles. In April 2022 she became the first Latin American artist to receive the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the 59th Venice Biennale, the most important recognition of contemporary art worldwide. Vicuña has received several international distinctions such as the Premio Velázquez a las Artes (Velázquez Award for the Arts) and the Arts Council of Great Britain Award, among others. She created art collectives such as Tribu No, wrote books for children and during the dictatorship she made visible the violations of human rights in Chile.
El Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas 2023 was awarded after a session of members of the jury gathered at the Pereira Palace where Carolina Arredondo, Minister of Cultures, announced the award. The artist was in the United States and connected by videocall for the official report and commented: "for me it is a deep emotion because this will allow my legacy to reach the children of the future of Chile. That was my dream, that my life would begin beyond my death, and now with this award it will be materialized. The important thing is that these thoughts, this feeling, this way of being ours, is what we have to love and value above all things. The earth will heal when we heal, when we stop acting with violence and hate. I thank you with all my heart for making this gift to Chile possible." Likewise, the minister assured that Vicuña's work had relevance for the cultural and artistic history in Chile.
The judges included the rector of the Universidad de Chile (University of Chile), Rosa Devés, the artist and last winner of the Prize, Francisco Gazitúa, the representative of the Academia de Bellas Artes (Academy of Fine Arts), Enrique Zamudio, the rector of the Universidad de Santiago de Chile (University of Santiago de Chile), Rodrigo Vidal, the historian Catalina Valdés, and the sculptor Francisca Cerda. The official document mentions that Vicuña's work relates rituality, poetry and textile art, bringing to the present American ancestralities and traditions as a source for creativity. Also, Vicuña's work inspires to face the urgencies of the present time without fear, but with a sense of responsibility, care, simplicity and strategies of resistance in the face of the uncertainty of the contemporary world.
El Premio Nacional (National Prize) is one of the highest awards given by the State of Chile to the work of outstanding national artists for their excellence, creativity and contribution to national culture in the development of knowledge and the arts. Some of the awarded artists are: Francisco Gazitúa Costabal (2021), Eduardo Vilches Prieto (2019), Paz Errázuriz (2017), Roser Bru (2015), Alfredo Jaar (2013), Gracia Barrios (2011) and Federico Assler (2009).
Cecilia Vicuña approaches concepts such as the earth, women, indigenous cosmovision and social struggles. In April 2022 she became the first Latin American artist to receive the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the 59th Venice Biennale, the most important recognition of contemporary art worldwide. Vicuña has received several international distinctions such as the Premio Velázquez a las Artes (Velázquez Award for the Arts) and the Arts Council of Great Britain Award, among others. She created art collectives such as Tribu No, wrote books for children and during the dictatorship she made visible the violations of human rights in Chile.
