Kuwaiti-born artist Alia Farid has been announced as the recipient of the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter’s Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award. As part of the prize, one of the largest in the art world, Farid will receive $100,000, as well as a solo exhibition at the museum in Oslo, which will open in 2024. In addition, the museum will acquire his work for its permanent collection.
Farid, who divides his time between Puerto Rico and his native Kuwait, describes himself as working at the intersection of art and architecture. She explores themes of colonialism and informal networks in a practice that encompasses sculpture and video, with the aim of illuminating what is often invisible. “Art is an important part of thinking and understanding things,” Farid said. “Without it, life would be one-dimensional. I live in a society that is ambivalent about supporting art and culture, so having the endorsement of the Lise Wilhelmsen Art Prize program really means a lot to me.
The award jury in a collective statement praised Farid for an “extraordinary practice across multiple media [that] raises awareness of very important topics in our time, while carrying a powerful aesthetic and an integrated materiality and sociality that often results in large-scale works. The jury further noted: “Alia Farid’s complex work mediates between past and present and, in a poetic treatment, brings out omitted stories that run counter to standard narratives. She explores issues of conflict and control and how power and violence are inflicted on nature and people.
Farid holds a BFA from La Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico (Viejo San Juan), a Masters of Science in Visual Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Masters in Museum Studies and Critical Theory from independent studies of MACBA in Barcelona. . She is currently the subject of three solo exhibitions: at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto; the Rivers Institute, New Orleans; and Chisenhale Gallery, London.
