Winners of Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award

NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), in partnership with Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF), has announced the winners of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award 2023: Vivi Zhu, Hala El Abora and Majd Alloush.

The winners have been awarded USD 10,000 to complete their installation over the next eight months with the support of award’s director Emily Doherty, the NYUAD Art Gallery team, NYUAD’s faculty including NYUAD Associate Teaching Professor of Film and New Media and the winners’ mentor Dale Hudson, and the award team at ADMAF.

Zhu is an NYUAD graduate, artist and award-winning documentary filmmaker who has previously exhibited at the Shanghai Biennale and whose practice explores micronarratives within social and political issues. Dubai-based Palestinian-Jordanian artist El Abora addresses themes of non-ephemerality, permanence and the urgency of preservation in her work, which has been shown at exhibitions in the US, Canada, and Sharjah. An MFA student at NYUAD and one of the artists featured in Beyond: Emerging Artists at Abu Dhabi Art 2022, Alloush works across a range of disciplines including printmaking, sculpture, photography, moving image, installation and performance.

Entitled ‘Shaheeq’, the winners’ submission explores the mangrove trees of the UAE, proposing that the UAE landscape already offers environmental solutions and advocating for a positive approach to combating the climate crisis.

Produced annually since 2013, in collaboration with The NYUAD Art Gallery, the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award is now in its 11th edition. A launcpad for artists across the UAE, the award facilitates the development of new artwork and offers winners insight into professional life as an artist, from commission to exhibition.