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| Feliciano Centurión Prize | |
|---|---|
| Name | Feliciano Centurión Prize |
| Awarded for | Artistic achievement in textile arts and contemporary art |
| Presenter | Centro Cultural, municipal and national arts councils |
| Country | Paraguay |
Feliciano Centurión Prize is an arts award established to honor the legacy of the Paraguayan-born textile artist Feliciano Centurión and to recognize excellence in textile, fiber, and related contemporary art practices. The prize situates Centurión’s work within a transnational field connecting Latin American art, European biennials, and curatorial networks, and functions as both a commemorative honor and a mechanism for institutional support. It engages artists, curators, critics, and cultural institutions across Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, United States, and other international nodes of artistic exchange.
The prize was initiated in the decade following the artist’s posthumous rise to international attention through exhibitions at venues associated with Bienal de São Paulo, Museum of Modern Art, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, and regional institutions in Asunción, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo. Early advocates included curators linked to PAC - Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea, directors from Mercosul Biennial, and scholars affiliated with Universidad Nacional de Asunción and Universidad de Buenos Aires. Initial funding and organization drew on partnerships with municipal cultural offices in Asunción, private foundations modeled on Fundación Proa and Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, and collecting institutions such as Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires. Over subsequent editions the prize expanded cooperation with European museums—examples include curators connected to Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, and Serpentine Galleries—and with Latin American academic programs at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Universidad de Chile.
Eligibility criteria emphasize practitioners working in textile, embroidery, sewing, tapestry, mixed-media fiber, and interdisciplinary practices that echo themes present in Centurión’s oeuvre. Applicants and nominees typically include individual artists, collaborative studios, and occasionally curators or collectives already active within circuits that encompass Bienal de Lyon, Sharjah Biennial, Venice Biennale, Documenta, Frieze, and regional art fairs like ArteBA and SP-Arte. Geographic eligibility focuses on creators from Paraguay and the broader Mercosur region, while some editions permit invitations to artists from Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, and United Kingdom to foster exchange. Selection guidelines require submission of portfolios, exhibition histories involving institutions such as Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Buenos Aires), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima, or documentation of projects presented at spaces like Galería Ruth Benzacar and Galería Nara Roesler.
The award process combines open calls, curated nominations, and jury deliberations drawing on institutional partners. An international jury usually includes curators, critics, and directors associated with Museo Tamayo, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Hayward Gallery, and university art history departments at Columbia University, New York University, and Universidad de São Paulo. Shortlisting is organized through peer review panels with representatives from municipal cultural agencies in Asunción and national ministries similar to Secretaría Nacional de Cultura. Final selection often involves studio visits, archival research on influences linked to practitioners such as Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Ana Mendieta, Hélio Castroneves (note: motorsports figure—contextually separate), and curatorial essays by scholars connected to Getty Research Institute or Institute of Contemporary Arts. Award components typically include a monetary grant, production support, a solo or group exhibition at a partner institution, and publication collaborations with presses aligned with Maus Hábitos or university presses.
Recipients have ranged from emergent textile artists from Paraguay to established fiber practitioners with residence histories spanning Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Madrid, and Berlin. Named awardees commonly maintain exhibition records at entities like Fundación Pro Arte Córdoba, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Rosario, Bienal del Mercosur, and independent spaces such as Ex Teresa Arte Actual and La Casa Encendida. Honorees have included artists and collectives who engage with themes resonant with Centurión’s practice—identity, migration, illness, domestic labor—with many later participating in international programs supported by British Council, Institut Français, Goethe-Institut, and Instituto Cervantes. The roster of recipients has contributed to artist residencies at institutions such as Signal Culture, Civitella Ranieri, and national residencies modeled after Programa de Residencias del Museo Tamayo.
Critical reception situates the prize within debates on the valorization of textile arts within contemporary art histories that involve figures like Judy Chicago, Faith Ringgold, Senga Nengudi, and Louise Bourgeois. Scholars and reviewers writing in outlets tied to Artforum, Frieze, ArtReview, and regional journals such as Revista Ñ and Arte al Dia have assessed the prize as instrumental in amplifying practices often marginalized by major museum acquisition policies at institutions like MoMA PS1 and Whitney Museum of American Art. Institutional impact includes increased acquisition of textile works by collections at Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Asunción), Museo de Arte do Rio, and university museums. Reception has also prompted critical conversations in conferences organized by International Council of Museums and academic symposia at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.
Administration is typically led by a steering committee that pairs municipal cultural offices in Asunción with advisory boards comprising curators from Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona, directors from Latin American biennials, and representatives from philanthropic organizations modeled on Prince Claus Fund and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Funding streams combine public arts budgets, philanthropic grants, corporate sponsorships from entities active in cultural patronage, and ticketed exhibition income when partner museums such as Museo Reina Sofía or Museo de Arte de São Paulo host award presentations. Endowment strategies emulate models employed by Fondation Cartier and university-affiliated funds, while transparency initiatives align reporting practices with standards advocated by International Art Critics Association and national cultural agencies.
Category:Arts awards