Hiwa K is the Hector Art Prize winner for 2019. The jury’s choice, made on Tuesday January 22, 2019, was a unanimous decision, coming after a three-stage selection process in which the judges narrowed down their favorite of the 14 nominated individual artists and artist collectives. Born in 1975 and originating from Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdish region of Iraq, Hiwa K has lived in Germany for more than 20 years and, with his vast collection of works, has significantly contributed to the creation of a cross-cultural dialogue between Arab, Kurdish, and European culture.
Beginning in 1997, the Kunsthalle Mannheim, in association with the H.W. & J. Hector Foundation, have awarded the Hector Prize for contemporary art in Germany every three years. The award seeks to promote artists between the ages of 35 and 50 currently living in Germany and working in the three-dimensional disciplines of sculpture, readymades, and multimedia installations. In this way, the Hector Art Prize highlights the Mannheim collection’s focus on sculpture. The winner receives a cash prize of 20,000 euros, an exhibition at the Kunsthalle, and an exhibition catalog. Previous winners include Alicja Kwade, Nairy Baghramian, Tobias Rehberger, Florian Slotawa and Gunda Förster.
Promoted by the H.W. & J. Hector Foundation.
Hiwa K (born in 1975) studied painting in Iraq and engaged with European literature, philosophy and music. In the mid-1990s, he fled to Germany, were he was first a flamenco student under Paco Peña, and from 2005 studied at the Kunstakademie in Mainz and was a guest student at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. Works by Hiwa K have been exhibited internationally at, among others, the documenta14 in Kassel (2017) and the 56th Venice Biennale (2015).
On the occasion of the show, a catalogue will be published in collaboration with the Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw and the NOMUS New Art Museum in Gdansk (2019), edited by Sebastian Baden and Aneta Szyłak.