CHICAGO — A 35-year-old Qatari-American artist is the inaugural winner of a prize worth $100,000 that recognizes mid-career artists from the Middle East.
Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art on Monday announced Sophia Al-Maria as the winner of the first Dunya Contemporary Art Prize. The museum will commission a new work from her that will be presented in a major exhibition.
An international jury of contemporary Middle Eastern art experts chose Al-Maria for the honor, saying she has “pioneered a new visual language.”
The 35-year-old artist, writer and filmmaker lives and works in London. The prize aims to foster contemporary Middle Eastern artists whose work is “rigorous, challenging and unconventional.”
The prize receives support from the Shulamit Nazarian Foundation and will be given once every two years.
