The 10th International Award for Art Criticism (IAAC 10) announced its prize winners at Jiushi Art Museum in Shanghai recently.

This year’s IAAC received 344 submitted articles from 41 countries and regions. The grand prize was won by Chinese contributor Xi Yuan, who is currently a PhD candidate of the department of sociology at University of Virginia in the United States.

The 148 Chinese contributions came from 22 provinces, cities and regions. More than 45 per cent of them came from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong province, and more than 50 per cent of the exhibitions reviewed took place in Shanghai and Beijing. Students are the most prominent backbone of Chinese contributors, followed by curators and writers.

The International Award for Art Criticism has been in China for 10 years, during which a total of 2,618 manuscripts have been submitted.

Chair of the jury and honorary president of the International Association of Art Critics, Paris, Henry Meyric Hughes said at the award ceremony on Dec 9 that, “Art criticism is not only about looking at inside art, it must pay attention to the living environment, society and culture of art.”

Gu Jiqing, president of Jiushi Art Museum, co-host of the IAAC 10, said at the discussion panel that “art criticism should not be limited to academia, but reach out to the public.” He suggested holding lectures and other public educational activities to help audiences to understand and participate in art criticism.