Berlin Art Prize – Jubilee Endowment 1848/1948

Following the rotation of the six sections of the Akademie der Künste, this year the Berlin Art Prize – Grand Prize is to be awarded in the Architecture Section to the French landscape architect Gilles Clément.

Born in Argenton-sur-Creuse in 1943, Gilles Clément has been designing parks, gardens and public and private spaces since 1972. He is the author of numerous texts. He teaches, runs workshops and gives seminars around the world. His best-known parks include Parc Henri Matisse in Lille; the former submarine base in Saint Nazaire; and the Quai Branly museum garden and the garden at La Défense, both in Paris. As the jury, which includes Kees Christiaanse, Dorte Mandrup and Jörn Walter, put it, “In a world locked in a struggle with climate change, the loss of biodiversity and ecocide, Clément’s work is a beacon of hope and a call to action.”

The other six art prizes go to Jerusalem-born artist Assaf Gruber (Visual Arts), the urban architect from the western Ukrainian city of Lviv Anton Kolomieistev (Architecture), Canadian composer Cassandra Miller (Music), Austrian author Brigitta Falkner (Literature), Ankara-born artist, researcher and author Göksu Kunak (Performing Arts) and Italian film director Pietro Marcello (Film and Media Arts).

The Berlin Art Prize was established in 1948 by the city’s magistrate to commemorate the March Revolution of 1848. It has been awarded by the Akademie der Künste on behalf of the State of Berlin since 1971. Honouring artists in this way is intended to underline the special significance of the arts in a liberal society.