The 30,000 franc prize has been awarded by an international jury of experts for 25 years now in the Statements sector of Art Basel. This year, Tiffany Sia and Ahmed Umar won the prize.

Baloise will buy works from both artists and will gift them to two significant European museums, the MMK Frankfurt and the MUDAM, Luxembourg, according to an announcement made on Tuesday.

Visual Meditation

(Image: André Räubig)

Tiffany Sia's installation invites viewers to experience video in unconventional ways. She follow the steps of King Hu – a martial arts film director who filmed in the Taiwanese countryside, with her work presenting a visual meditation of what Salman Rushdie once called an «imaginary home».

In other words, a romanticized perspective of one's homeland that the people in the diaspora often have. In her collection of On and Off-Screen Imaginaries, she casts a critical eye on popular documentary films.

She projects The Sojourn» behind a curved curtain and «Antipodes II» on a mirror, which exudes the impression of something disturbing while underlining the materiality of the image, giving the medium of film an almost painting-like quality.

Uncovering Mistaken Beliefs

(Image: André Räubig)

Ahmed Umar creates poetical and spiritual forms from cliched souvenirs, forming 15 different types of prayer beads. Various materials, including wood, plaster, rubber, and metal become handmade, smooth assemblages that look like they can slide across hands.

Ahmed Umar shows how different the practice of Islam is in different geographies and helps to uncover the mistaken belief that spirituality only comes from writings.

The jury for the 2024 Baloise art prize comprised:

• Karola Kraus, General Director MUMOK Vienna and chair of the jury
• Marie-Noëlle Farcy, Curator/Head of the MUDAM collection, Luxembourg
• Susanne Pfeffer, Director MMK Frankfurt
• Ann Demeester, Director Kunsthaus Zürich
• Uli Sigg, Swiss collector and patron of the arts