The 2023 AICA-France Prize for Art Criticism
To compel art critic, that isn’t locked into a pre-set notion, into a pecha kucha. To then impose a timed format that involves commenting 20 slides, one every 20 seconds. The concept, imagined by Raphaël Cuir, Elisabeth Couturier and Marc Partouche, elected to the Board of AICA-France, may seem outlandish. Wrongly so. Not only has the AICA-France Prize for Art Criticism established itself among AICA members as a matter of course, but it turned into the annual get-together for art critics in France, reaching audiences in the field of art throughout the world.
The imposed format of a 6-minute 40-seconds oral presentation highlights the diversity of critical approaches: literary, journalistic, poetic, academic, descriptive or imaginative, offbeat or committed. It also brings together the large family of art critics around a unique event, supported by the Ministry of Culture and the INHA (French National Institute for Art History), revealing each year new talents to their peers. At last, as I have experienced myself, it encourages applicants to overcome the constraints, or even circumvent them, in order to push forward the boundaries of criticism.
AICA-France has established a new partnership with Critique d’art in order to publish the contributions of the nine candidates in the 11th edition of its Prize for Art Criticism, supported by the Fondation pour l’art contemporain Claudine et Jean-Marc Salomon and the Fondation Antoine de Galbert. This connection strengthens the friendship that has united us with the Archives de la critique d’art since their creation in 1989. Elisabeth Couturier, Honorary President of AICAFrance, who passed away too fast and too soon, in September 2024, would have been delighted with this partnership. It gives a new dimension to the Prize, which will henceforth bear Elisabeth’s name, while offering international visibility to the applicants. This publication is dedicated to her.
