Brno, Nov 27 (CTK) – Multimedia artist Martin Kohout, 33, is this year’s winner of the Jindrich Chalupecky Award for young Czech artists, the organisers told CTK after the awarding ceremony in Brno on Sunday night.
The international jury said Kohout’s work emphasises the both alienating and creative aspects of technology.
“By showing our intimate relations in a world in which they seem lost, Kohout brings a personal level in his work and newly defines the role of creativity in contemporary society,” the jury said.
At the exhibition of the shortlisted works competing for the award, Kohout presented a short film focusing on working night shifts and its consequences on many levels.
Kohout graduated from Prague’s Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts and Stadelschule in Frankfurt, Germany.
The winner of the awards receives 100,000 crowns for an art project and a two-month stipend in New York.
The spectators’ award went to Richard Loskot who presented an interactive installation simulating an alienated futurist flat.
The Chalupecky Award has been given to young Czech artists since 1990. It was initiated by president and writer Vaclav Havel, artist Theodor Pistek and poet and artist Jiri Kolar. The first laureates include Vladimir Kokolia, Frantisek Skala, Michal Gabriel and Petr Nikl. Last year, Matyas Chochola won the award.
