January 29th 2014, Beijing—The 9th Annual Award of Art China Press Conference will be held at the Forbidden City. In its 9th year, the Award of Art China (AAC) will focus on the themes of “evolution” and “revolution”, echoing the revisions AAC has implemented tovarious aspects of the program, including the program’sorganization, selection process and number of awards. In 2009, AAC shifted from being an art industry focused award to a more academically focused award program. The current changes to the award program reflect this evolution, as the selection process and awards will further emphasize the current trends and attitudes in contemporary art, as well as highlight more independent artistic voices and values so integral to the development of contemporary art.

In addition to changes made in the selection process, AAC has surpassed its status as a mere award, becoming thoroughlyintegrated into the fabric of art history.Building upon the 2014 “Observation Reports” and starting from 2015, AAC will embark on a partnership with Peking University. The two organizations will work together to publish monthly commentaries analyzing the current developments in contemporary Chinese art, the results of which will be invaluable sources for the chronicling of contemporary Chinese art. Through its nine years of evolution, AAC has truly become a living witness to Chinese art history.

Awards Evolution: From 13 to 3

With eight years of experience, AAC has become the most academic, credible and influential award platform in the world of contemporary Chinese art, a chronicler of the history of Chinese contemporary art. In order to present a clearer and more complete picture of contemporary art, AAC is raising the call to “Spotlight Contemporary Art”. The spotlight will be focused, as AAC’s original thirteen awards have been reduced to three: Artist of the Year, Young Artist of the Year and Art Publication of the Year.

The development of contemporary art has further blurred the boundaries between categories of art, especially as cross-medium, multi-genre artworks become increasingly common.In response, AAC will no longer categorize artworks during its selection process. The three awards will still uphold AAC’s guiding principle of scholarship,reflecting both contemporary art practice and theoretical research, the two fields of contemporary art.

With regard to art practice, AAC seeks to highlightthe most significant and groundbreaking contemporary artworks in China. Due to China’s era of rapid growth and the groundbreaking contributions of young artists in the field of art, AAC has developed two art practice awards: Artist of the Year and Young Artist of the Year. The former will be awarded to an artist whose work from the past year comprehensively represents the current face and attitude of contemporary Chinese art and is a major driving force in its development. The latter should represent an artistic breakthrough, the work of a young artistthat embodies the possibilities for the future.The Art Publication of the Year should be an internationally published work of academic theory that analyzes representative samples of Chinese contemporary art, presenting to its audience a clear picture of the contemporary Chinese art milieu. Meanwhile, each year, Chinese and overseas partners, in conjunction with museums, art fairs and media will jointly publicize and exhibit the nominated and winning works in different countries and cities around the world.

One Hundred-Person Line-Up: Consultant Committee

With scholarship as its founding principle, AAC has worked toconstantly improve its selection process and establish a more rigorous, comprehensive and authoritative set of selection criteria. After extensive research on the selection processes of some of the world’s most prestigious art awards, AAC has made appropriatealterations to its selection process. The previous 26 member judging committee has beenexpanded to include new additions of art critics, curators and scholars from China and overseas, with a special focus on those who have demonstrated a long-term interest in Chinese contemporary art. The new AAC Consultants Committee will be comprised of 100 members.

For each yearly installment of the AAC, nine to eleven members of the 100-person Consultants Committee will be selected to sit on that year’s judging committee, making additions to the list of nominees and selecting the winners based on the 12 issues of the 2014 AAC monthly Observation Reports. Each award category will have 30 nominees, five short-listed nominees and one winner.

The final recipients of the three awards will truly embody the vision of the Award of Art China. This vision will change as the perspectives and observations

change from year to year, progressing hand-in-hand with the evolution of contemporary art.

Elevated Platform: Documenting the Development of Contemporary Art AAC has witnessed the course of contemporary art in the last eight years as well as its increasing popularity. In recent years, more organizations outside of the art world are beginning to engage with the art industry, benefiting the developmentof contemporary art, and thus, a platform such as AAC is all the more worth sharing.

With this in mind, this year AAC has established the Award of Art China Foundation and the AAC Council. The AAC Council isa body comprised of a group of influential international organizations committed to supporting and following the progress of contemporary Chinese art, including Minsheng Industrial Group, Taikang Life, and the DSL Foundation. The Council will be the highest decision-making body within the AAC organization. The Council’s future duties will include drafting the AAC’s overall development strategy, organizing and implementing yearly plans and participating in the selection of each year’s judging committee and its chairman.

Through a series of revolutionary changes, AAC’s selection process and award set-up reflect a broader, more ecumenical vision for contemporary art, and are now better equipped to effectively document contemporary art trends. AAC’s monthly Observation Reports, annual scholarly forums and various exhibitions will continue to move forward as before.

With nine years under its belt, AAC has undergone drastic changes. However, evolution and revolution does not entail an abject negation of the past, but allows us to better prepare for and face the future, especially the fast-changing environment of contemporary art. In the future, with a more comprehensive, scientific, objective evaluation system, stronger international influence, and a more international committee of judges, AAC will no doubt more effectively mirror and trace the trajectory of contemporary art.