The Opening Night is finished and the jury has made the decision.
Arte Laguna Prize is proud to present the Overall Winners: for 20th Edition is ELENE TAVADZE and the Overall Winner for 21st Edition is KSENIYA KHAMIANKOVA! |
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ELENE DARIANI | by Elene Tavadze (Georgia)
Overall Winner for the 20th Edition 2025 |
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JURY'S REASON We selected the artist for the exceptional materiality of the work, particularly the tactile qualities of puppetry and the meticulous execution of stop-motion animation. The precision and sensitivity of its construction reveal a thoughtful and distinctive artistic vision. The attention and slow time went into the work contrasting beautifully with our technically accelerated contemporary life where attention is always in deficit. Equally compelling is the work’s commitment to resurrecting an overlooked historical figure and bringing a neglected chapter of history into renewed visibility through an imaginative act of reinterpretation. Its narrative-driven approach is both intimate and inviting, distinguished by a warmth and emotional accessibility that offer a meaningful counterpoint to the highly conceptual practices often represented in contemporary art. In recognizing this work, we also affirm the prize’s commitment to giving attention and time to artists whose practices may not yet have received sufficient visibility, while contributing to an expansion of the field and the forms of artistic expression it embraces. The animated film reimagines the story of Elene Bakradze, a Georgian woman whose unfulfilled love for the poet Paolo Iashvili gave rise to the mysterious poetic persona of Elene Dariani. Long believed to be a literary mystification created by Iashvili, Elene Dariani is revealed through this story as the expression of a woman's own desires, longing, and emotional life. Through the interplay of reality, dreams, and poetry, the film explores the transformative power of unrequited love, the tension between desire and social convention, and the ways in which suppressed emotions can find expression through art. Ultimately, Elene Dariani becomes both a poetic creation and a metaphor for personal liberation, giving voice to a love that never materialized in life but found a lasting existence in poetry. |
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"ROUTINE" | by Kseniya Khamiankova (in art theatrical_hunt) (Belarus)
Overall Winner for the 21st Edition 2026 |
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JURY'S REASON This is a delicate work. We love its fragmentation. There is no direct political message, yet the work appears anthropological and theatrical, obsessed with routine. It has a streak of barbarity: a reflection on the domestic woman who reclaims her own space and takes up all the room. Moreover, the work surprises us with its presentation and its fragments |
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