Paper Art Award – Hahnemühle encourages contemporary paper art with prize and museum

Hahnemühle, d’mage and Canon have been cooperating and committed to sculptural paper art since 2017. As a result, the summer ateliers Paper Residency ! under the direction of d’mage have evolved. Each year, four scholarship holders are given the opportunity to work freely and extensively with paper without cost pressure. The concept allows a playful sculptural and/or three-dimensional processing of, among others, large-format, and fine art prints. Within this framework, many creative and unique paper artworks have already been created. A few selected ones were shown for the first time at the paper positions berlin in September 2020 and met with great enthusiasm. Inspired by the artworks and reactions, the concept of the joint award and paper art museum was formed.

"Hahnemühle paper inspires artists all over the world. We are now pooling our expertise as a manufacturer of the finest media with two strong partners. Together with the international camera and printer manufacturer Canon and the Hahnemühle Certified Studio d’mage Berlin, we are launching a new excellence award in Berlin’s international art scene. Paper in its diverse, yet unique form will be the central element of the competition. We are excited and looking forward to this international project.” – Jan Wölfle, President and CEO of Hahnemühle Group

Paper Art Award

The Paper Art Award is a new award for outstanding sculptural visual paper art. With an amount of 36,000€, it is the most highly endowed paper art award focusing on paper as a material. It will be awarded for the first time at the art fair paper positions berlin on 10.06.2021. Thereafter, up to three first-class artists will be honoured with this prize each year. There are no age, residence or origin restrictions for the participating artists. However, the artworks must meet one specific criterion: The artwork must be sculptural or three-dimensional paper art consisting of artistically processed or handled paper (drawings, paintings, or prints).

A highly competent jury consisting of gallery owners and artists, as well as guest judges from d’mage, Canon and Hahnemühle will select the winners. In addition to meeting the criterion, artistic quality, independence, innovative practice, potential and possibilities for further artistic development are also included in the evaluation. More information about the award, the jury and the partners can be found at paperartaward.com.

The Haus des Papiers (House of Paper)

The Haus des Papiers (House of Paper) is the world’s first museum of sculptural paper art. Some of the exhibited works are Paper Art Award winners and purchased for the museum’s collection. Another part are loans from befriended artists and galleries. Among them are Ketuta Alexi-Meskhishvili, Burcak Bingöl, Astrid Busch, Thea Djordjadze, Aleksandra Domanovic, Lars Eidinger, Goekhan Erdogan, Christiane Feser, Andrea Grützner, Leiko Ikemura, Ismene, Lindsey Landfried, Alex Lebus, Guy Lougashi, Ulrike Mohr, Jana Schumacher and Rosemarie Trockel.

d’mage, Canon and Hahnemühle see the museum as a European centre for paper expertise, paper art and printing technologies. It is to become part of a large network. The House of Paper will open with a vernissage on May 22, 2021. It can be found at Seydelstraße 30, in 10177 Berlin.