The winners of STRABAG Artaward International are chosen by a jury of international experts, who serve a three-year term. The jurors, who are drawn from the countries eligible for the prize, compile an initial shortlist based on materials submitted online, in a preliminary online judging process lasting several weeks. The artists selected are invited to submit original works for the final judging process. At the jury meeting in April, original works submitted by the artists selected are discussed, and the main prizewinner and the four winners of recognition prizes are nominated.
Viewing, comparison and contextualization of the original works is necessary in order to directly and intensely experience the artworks’ character – without it, a serious judgment as to their quality would be impossible.
Anna-Catharina Gebbers is a Germanist, philosopher and sociologist, curator and author. Since 2015 she has been working as a curator at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart in Berlin. One focus of her work is on translocal collaborative curated projects, including several years of ongoing research and exhibition projects with artists and curators from China, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. She was a member of the Federal Acquisition Commission (2016–22), jury member of the Capital Cultural Fund (2015-18), member of the board of directors/supervisory board/acquisition commission of neuer berliner kunstverein (since 2013), member of AICA (since 2013). Selected projects: Eva Fàbregas (2023), Collecting Entanglements and Embodied Histories (2021–2022, Galeri Nasional Indonesia, Hamburger Bahnhof, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum Chiang Mai, National Gallery Singapore with Grace Samboh, Gridthiya Gaweewong, June Yap), Micro Era: Cao Fei, Fang Di, Lu Yang, Zhang Peili (with Pi Li, Victor Wang, Yang Beichen, 2018), Anne Imhof (2016), Julian Rosefeldt (2016), Christoph Schlingensief (New York with Klaus Biesenbach and Susanne Pfeffer, 2013, KW, Berlin/2014, MoMA PS1). Author of publications on Asana Fujikawa, Cao Fei, Christoph Schlingensief, Lu Yang, Thomas Scheibitz, Wantanee Siripattananuntakul, among others.
Alenka Gregorič is an art historian, curator and writer. From 2003 till 2009 she worked as artistic director of Škuc Gallery, Ljubljana, curating, organizing and coordinating all the program activities. From 2010 till 2020 she has been the artistic director and curator at City Art Gallery Ljubljana and Tobačna Gallery, and she is now the artistic director of Cukrarna Gallery (all part of Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana MGML). She has curated many exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad. Recently she curated solo exhibitions of Rosa Barba, Flaka Haliti, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Ulay and Rabih Mroue, among others. In addition to curating exhibitions, she has written numerous essays, reviews and articles for various artist books, catalogues, and other publications. The responsibility of those producing contemporary art and of cultural institutions, as well as their role in contemporary society, constitute the focal point of her interests.
Johan Holten studied art history and cultural studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin and was director of the Heidelberger Kunstverein from 2006 to 2011. Holten was awarded the ADKV-Art Cologne Prize for Art Associations in 2009 for his exhibition programme. From 2011 to 2019, Holten was director of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, where he curated exhibitions with Chto Delat?, Jan de Cock, Wangechi Mutu, Elizabeth Peyton, Li Songsong and group exhibitions examining the impact of art in civil society processes. In 2014, Johan Holten received the Justus Bier Prize for Curators together with Friedrich Meschede for the exhibition Auf Zeit. In 2018, he curated the major special exhibition of the state of Baden-Württemberg entitled Exhibiting the Exhibition. From the Cabinet of Curiosities to the Curatorial Situation. Since 2019, Johan Holten has been Director of the Kunsthalle Mannheim, which reopened with a spectacular new extension on 1 June 2018.
Angela Stief is an art historian, museum director, curator and cultural publicist. In October 2021, she was appointed Director of the Albertina Modern, in July 2020 Chief Curator of Contemporary Art at the Albertina in Vienna. In 2020, she took over the visiting professorship for curatorial practice at the University of Linz and was part of the curatorial team of the inaugural exhibition of the Albertina Modern, The Beginning. Art in Austria from 1945 to 1980. Since 2018 curatorial advisor of the Vienna Art Week and conception of Outsider exhibitions at the Austrian Association of the Golden Cross. From 2002 to 2013, Angela Stief was curator at Kunsthalle Wien. Regular publication of texts on contemporary art in monographs, exhibition catalogues, art journals and magazines (Artforum, Fair, Kunstforum International, Parnass, Profil, etc.). Selected projects: Jackson Pollock. Mark Rothko. Joan Mitchell. Ways of Freedom. (2022), Lawrence Weiner (2022), The 80s (2021), Suzanne Treister (2020) Anna Zemánková (2019), Betty Tompkins (2019), Evelyne Axell (2018), Rupprecht Geiger (2017), OFF IS (scene hybrid of museum, gallery and bar, 2016), Leigh Bowery (2013), Julian Rosefeldt (2012), POWER UP - Female Pop Art (2010), Wangechi Mutu (2008), Dream and Trauma. Works from the Dakis Joannou Collection (2007).
Sebastian Haselsteiner took over the management of the STRABAG Kunstforum in October 2023. The successful architect (MHM Architects, Vienna) has found his love for art and thus his vocation through his international education and several long stays abroad (including in Italy, Japan, Australia, USA, England) as well as through his profession. He works with great dedication in all areas of the STRABAG Kunstforum and is committed to the continuous development of the STRABAG Artcollection. Sebastian Haselsteiner has also been passionate about collecting contemporary art in his private life for more than 20 years.