Anri Sala Wins ‘Absolut’ Art Award

TIRANA, July 25 – Albanian artist Anri Sala has been announced the winner of the Absolut Art Award 2011, a prize awarded by Sweden-based Absolut Vodka since 2009. The jury’s citation reads: “Anri Sala’s work offers a unique way of looking at the world that combines reflection on history, memories, and consciousness of the instant, with an absolute awareness of presence and disappearance. He possesses a special talent for precise and subtle displays, and a unique ability to conceive installations and architectural proposals including sound, image, sculpture, film and live performances.” Chairman of the Absolut Art Award jury, Christine Macel, Chief Curator at Centre Pompidou, will award Anri Sala with the Euro 30,000 prize during a ceremony in Stockholm on September 16. Born in Albania in 1974, Anri Sala belongs to the last generation of artists that emerged under the country’s repressive regime. The fall of communism and exposure to Western cultures changed Sala’s philosophy of life almost overnight, and his early work very much reflects the juxtaposition of East-European history and the post-modern age. Over the past decade, Anri Sala has gained international attention for his video work and he is considered one of Europe’s most interesting cinematic storytellers. Slowly and with attention to detail, Sala explores the relationship between light, sound and music to replace language as the most important means of creating captivating narratives. He dissects the interface of documentary and fiction, and raises interesting questions about memory and modernity. Anri Sala’s works have been included in numerous biennales including those in Berlin, Moscow, S䯠Paolo, Sydney and Venice.