Last year’s events, which still persist, turned every single planning outdated. At PIPA Prize, the situation was not different. The established format, that counts with an exhibition of the four finalists and picking a winner, who would receive an extra donation, needed to be redefined. In an initial moment, the show was postponed indefinitely, aiming to preserve everyone.
However, we need to give this edition a closure. We believe in the importance of honoring the finalists, their trajectories and works, and both the donation, in cash, and the exhibition are part of that, but we do not wish to put anyone at risk. Thus, we consulted the four finalist artists to make a decision together, and we took the matter to a meeting with the Prize’s Board. From that, we communicate bellow what was defined:
PIPA Prize made an unprecedented decision for a historic edition: declaring all four finalists, Gê Viana, Maxwell Alexandre, Randolpho Lamonier and Renata Felinto, winners of the 2020 edition, and splitting the donation’s amount between them. The possibility of having a PIPA Institute exhibition in October, 2021, is being debated, and it would include artworks donated by the winners of PIPA Prize. The show, in this way, would not have a competitive nature, as it would be a celebration of the four artists winners.
We believe this final option contemplates everyone’s interests without disrespecting or exposing the physical integrity of those involved, taking the Covid-19 pandemic, still ongoing, into consideration.
Finally, we would like to thank everyone who participated in PIPA Prize 2020: the 66 artists, the 26 members of the Nominating Committee and the guest members of the Board, Kiki Mazzucchelli, Luís Antônio Almeida Braga, Marcelo Mattos Araújo, Moacir dos Anjos and Tadeu Chiarelli. The year marked by the Covid-19 pandemic brought many difficulties and made us question the competition format of the Prize. We especially congratulate the four 2020 winners: four artists that exhibit the diversity and quality of contemporary art produced in our country, presenting the local specificities in the face of global challenges.