The Villa Romana Prize was initiated in order to offer an opportunity to talented, primarily younger artists resident in Germany to further develop their artistic position during a prolonged stay in Florence.
The Villa Romana in Florence hosts every year from February 1st to November 30th four fellows for a ten months stay that consists of free use of a studio and a fully equipped apartment as well as a monthly stipend of € 2000.
The four winners are selected by an annually changing Jury (usually a renowned artist and a curator or art professional). During their stay at Villa Romana the fellows are free to suggest cooperation projects as well as artists, academics and other dialogue partners to join them for short stays.
The Villa Romana fellows participate in shows both in Florence and Germany. At the end of their stay in Florence the fellows all together conceive a publication in the form of an artists' book.
The Villa Romana Prize is the oldest German art prize. Since its inception in 1905 the history of the Villa Romana Prize has been connected with renowned artists. Before the First World War Georg Kolbe (1905), Max Beckmann (1906), Käthe Kollwitz (1906) and Ernst Barlach (1908), and later, Gerhard Marks (1928) and Emy Roeder (1936) were among the fellows. In the second half of the twentieth century the prize has been awarded to Horst Antes (1962), Georg Baselitz (1965), Markus Lüpertz (1970), Michel Buthe (1976) and Katharina Grosse (1992).
The Villa Romana Prize has primarily been dedicated to artists at the beginning of their careers and has thus cowritten the history of modern art.
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In Spring 2023 the two selected jurors of the Villa Romana Prize 2024—curator Paz Guevara and artist Lerato Shadi—met in Florence alongside newly appointed director Elena Agudio and curator and project coordinator Mistura Allison. For the first time, nominators were invited to recommend artists to be considered for the prize. The nominators were: curator Natasha Ginwala, artist Marwa Arsanios, and curator and artist Lorenzo Sandoval.
The jurors chose to privilege practices focused on social relevance, public politics of the domestics, long-term research, and experimentation. The Villa Romana Association would like to thank them for their deliberation and is pleased to announce the four selected prize winners: Rubén D’Hers, Tuli Mekondjo, Monai de Paula Antunes, and Sergio Zevallos.
The collaboration between Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz—Max-Planck-Institut and Villa Romana continued in its fifth year in 2024. Villa Romana e.V. would like to thank the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz—Max-Planck-Institut for this continued support.
Photo: Giulia Del Piero
