Artes Mundi 7: Shortlist revealed for UK's largest contemporary art prize

Seven artists from across the world have been nominated for the £40,000 prize, awarded by the Arts Council of Wales and by Cardiff City Council

Neil Beloufa, Superlatives and Resolutions (Installation view) 2012 (Courtesy of the Artist, and François Ghebaly Gallery)

Two British artists have been shortlisted for the UK’s biggest contemporary art prize.

Acclaimed filmmaker John Akomfrah OBE and celebrated Welsh artist Bedwyr Williams are among the seven nominees for this year’s Artes Mundi.

The prize, now in its seventh year, is the largest contemporary art prize in the UK, offering the winner £40,000 - in comparison to the £25,000 takings for the Turner Prize.

Artes Mundi 7, which is held in Cardiff every two years, has also shortlisted award-winning French-Algerian artist Neïl Beloufa; Angolan multimedia and performance artist Nástio Mosquito; German filmmaker, visual artist, and author Hito Steyerl; Lebanese visual artist and filmmaker Lamia Joreige and contemporary Californian artist Amy Franceschini.

John Akomfrah, Handsworth Songs, (Still) 1986, London (Courtesy of the Artist, and François Ghebaly Gallery)

Bedwyr Williams, Curator Cadaver Cake, 2012, Performance, Grizedale Arts, Frieze Art Fair (Courtesy of the Artist, and François Ghebaly Gallery)

Nástio Mosquito, S.E.F.A., 2014, Live Performance at Festival Belluard Bollwerk International (2014), Fribourg (Courtesy of the Artist, and François Ghebaly Gallery)

Neil Beloufa, Counting on People, installation views ICA, London, 2014 (Courtesy of the Artist, and François Ghebaly Gallery)

Amy Francheschin / Futurefarmers, This is Not a Trojan Horse (in transit), 2010 (Daniela d’Arielli)

Hito Steyerl, How Not to Be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational.MOV File (Still), 2013 (Courtesy of the Artist, and François Ghebaly Gallery)

Lamia Joreige, Still from And the living is easy, Video, 75 minutes, 2014 (Lamia Joreige)

John Akomfrah OBE helped found the Black Audio Film Collective in 1982, and is best known for his films including 2013’s The Stuart Hall Project.

Bedwyr Williams, whose work combines installation and stand-up comedy, is celebrated for representing Wales as the 55th Venice Biennale.

Karen MacKinnon, Artes Mundi’s director and curator, said: “This group of seven artists…demonstrates the importance and usefulness of art and culture in our everyday lives as it challenges our preconceptions and gives us new ways of engaging with the world around us.”

The winner of Artes Mundi 7 will be announced in January 2017 following a four month exhibition of works by the shortlisted artists at the National Museum Cardiff and Chapter, Cardiff from October 2016 - February 2017.