M&C Saatchi Group and Saatchi Gallery reveal the six global winners of the Art for Change Prize 2024, an international art initiative open to artists working in the first five years of their career. This year’s prize challenged emerging artists worldwide to tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues through the theme ‘Tomorrow’ing: Visions of a Better Future.’
With a grand prize of £10,000, the competition offers a platform for artists to envision solutions for a brighter tomorrow and showcase their work at Saatchi Gallery.
This year saw a 56% increase in entries, with 4,667 submissions from 140 countries, and over 53% coming from developing nations across Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The six selected winners, representing Mexico, Hong Kong, Australia, Spain, Morocco, and the UK, will present works that explore critical issues such as humanity’s relationship with the Earth, the impact of industry on sustainability, and the hopes and fears for future generations.
The winning artworks span a variety of media including painting, photography, video, and mixed-media installations. Through their art, the winners highlight urgent global issues, offering creative solutions and raising awareness about the challenges of our times.
Each winner will receive £2,000, and one overall winner—set to be announced at the exhibition launch on 28 November—will take home an additional £8,000.
The winners were selected by a distinguished panel of business and creative leaders from M&C Saatchi Group, along with esteemed guest judges from the arts and creative sectors.
All the winning artworks will be on display at Saatchi Gallery from 29 November, 2024 – 26 January, 2025 in Gallery 3.
About
ADAPTATION, the first major survey of works by contemporary American photographer Anastasia Samoylova. Curated by Taous R. Dahmani, this exhibition presents works from five of Samoylova’s most significant series: ‘Landscape Sublime’, ‘Image Cities’, ‘FloodZone’, ‘Floridas’, and ‘Breakfasts’. The exhibition features compelling video work previously unseen in the UK.
In ADAPTATION, Samoylova directs her frank and curious gaze at evidence of the environment adapting to human intervention and, correspondingly, at our social and political reluctance to respond to a rapidly changing planet. Her subjects – often pastel-hued, doused in refracting light and darkened by impenetrable shadow – speak to this push and pull. Viewers are lured to take a closer look; subtly challenged to consider the ways in which we are encroaching on the environment and alerted to the danger of denial.
ADAPTATION has been produced by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, Minneapolis/Paris/ Lausanne in collaboration with Saatchi Gallery, London.
An accompanying book, newly published by Thames & Hudson is available for purchase in the Gallery Shop and Saatchi Store online.
About Anastasia Samoylova
Anastasia Samoylova is a Russian-born American artist who alternates between observational photography and studio practice. In 2024, her exhibition, ‘Floridas: Anastasia Samoylova and Walker Evans,’ will be presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Recent exhibitions include C/O Berlin, Fundación MAPFRE, George Eastman Museum, Chrysler Museum of Art, and V&A Dundee. Samoylova’s work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Perez Art Museum, Miami; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago. Publications include FloodZone (Steidl, 2019), Floridas (Steidl, 2022), and Image Cities (Fundación Mapfre, 2023).
About Taous R. Dahmani Dr Taous R. Dahmani is a London-based French, British and Algerian art historian, writer and curator specializing in photography. Dr Dahmani curated the 2022 Louis Roederer Discovery Award at Les Rencontres d’Arles in France, showcasing her keen eye for emerging talent. In October 2024, she will curate two themed group exhibitions at the Jaou Photo Biennale in Tunis, Tunisia. The following month, she will unveil a solo exhibition of SMITH at NOUA in Bodø, Norway. Her writing is featured in photobooks published by Loose Joints, Textuel and Chose Commune, as well as in prestigious magazines like The British Journal of Photography, FOAM, GQ, Aperture, Camera Austria and 1000 Words Magazine. She has delivered talks at renowned institutions including Tate, the Getty Research Institute, the Barbican, Le Bal, and La MEP.
About the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography (FEP)
An independent non-profit organization, The Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography (FEP) produces unique and influential museum-quality photography exhibitions and circulates them around the world. The Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography (Minneapolis/ Paris/ Lausanne) aims to enlighten, delight, and inspire people around the world through the presentation of photography exhibitions, publications, related online content, symposia, lectures, and other forms of educational events and materials. Founded in 2003, FEP is based in Minneapolis, a city with a vibrant tradition of support for the arts. The organization has achieved substantial results in its first two decades, with shows travelling to 35 countries on 4 continents, and with catalogues produced in many different languages.
About
★★★★★ “Every image contains some kind of magic.” – The Guardian
★★★★★ “A triumph… just a small selection of the breadth of talent and vibrancy across the African diaspora, and it shines in allowing both the photographers and their respective subjects to speak their own truth.” – The Upcoming
AS WE RISE: PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE BLACK ATLANTIC is an exciting exhibition of photographs from African Diasporic culture. Organised by Aperture and curated by Elliott Ramsey, the exhibition showcases work by Black artists from Canada, United States, Great Britain, The Caribbean, and the African Continent.
The exhibition celebrates the expansive sensibility of the works in the Wedge Collection, Canada’s largest privately-owned collection committed to championing Black artists, established by Dr. Kenneth Montague in 1997. Centring the familial alongside the familiar, the exhibition embraces concepts of community, identity, and power, and recognizes the complex strength, beauty, vulnerability, and diversity of Black life. The exhibition features such established names as Horace Ové, James Barnor and Gordon Parks, as well as emerging talents such as Texas Isaiah and Arielle Bobb-Willis.
AS WE RISE: PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE BLACK ATLANTIC, selections from the Wedge Collection, is organized by Aperture and curated by Elliott Ramsey.
The accompanying book, As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic (Aperture, 2021), a 184-page catalogue and As We Rise: Sounds from the Black Atlantic (Aperture, 2023), a limited-edition vinyl record, both published by Aperture, are available to purchase in the Gallery Shop and through Saatchi Store Online.
About Elliott Ramsey Elliott Ramsey is Curator of The Polygon Gallery in Vancouver, Canada. Ramsey holds a Master of Arts in Comparative Media Arts (2015) from Simon Fraser University. Ramsey is an alumnus of the Association of Art Museum Curators’ Professional Alliance for Curators of Colour, and has sat on numerous panels, advisories, and art juries including the Sobey Award, VIVA Award, Portfolio Prize, and Capture Photography Festival, among various other committees.
About Dr Kenneth Montague, the Wedge Collection The Wedge Collection was started in 1997 by Dr. Kenneth Montague to acquire and exhibit art that explores Black life. In addition to the Wedge Collection, Montague founded Wedge Curatorial Projects, a non-profit arts organization that helps support emerging Black artists. A Toronto-based art collector, Montague has been a member of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Board of Trustees since 2015 and has served on the African acquisitions committee at Tate Modern, London, as well as on the Photography Curatorial Committee of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. He is also a Trustee of the Aperture Foundation, and a past member of the jury for the Scotiabank Photography Award, Canada’s largest photography prize. In 2016, Montague received an Honorary Doctorate from OCAD University, Toronto.
About Aperture Established in 1952, Aperture is a non-profit publisher that leads conversations around photography worldwide. From its base in New York, Aperture connects global audiences and supports artists through its acclaimed quarterly magazine, books, exhibitions, digital platforms, public programs, limited-edition prints, and awards. Aperture champions photography’s vital role in nurturing curiosity and encouraging a more just, tolerant society.
Saatchi Gallery presents The Battle for Lobsteropolis, a new exhibition by celebrated contemporary artist Philip Colbert. Known for his hyperpop history paintings, Colbert continues his signature battle scene series, where the lobster battles artificial intelligence in the retro-future world Lobsteropolis.
In this solo show, Colbert’s iconic lobster travels through time and clashes with AI in reimagined historical battle scenes. The exhibition centres on two monumental AI-assisted paintings in which Colbert’s lobster faces off with the tech world. With these works, Colbert channels the grandeur of ancient battle motifs and Renaissance compositions, where heroic struggle and artistic legacy converge in a retro-futuristic, apocalyptic landscape. Colbert’s world is one where art history and digital innovation are constantly in flux, reflecting the ever-evolving tension between history and technological advancement.
The exhibition also features a series of sculptures that bring the drama of the battle scene to life, drawing on classical mythological figures such as the Centaur, Minotaur, and Medusa. By reinterpreting these legendary figures in his signature style, Colbert underscores the timeless appeal of mythology and its resonance in our own era.
About Philip Colbert
“I became an artist when I became a Lobster,” – Philip Colbert
Born in Scotland and living and working in London, Colbert is often referred to as the “godson of Andy Warhol”. He has created a global following for his cartoon lobster persona and his masterful hyper-pop history paintings. His work powerfully explores the patterns of contemporary digital culture and its relationship to a deeper art historical dialogue.
After graduating with an MA in Philosophy from St. Andrews University, Colbert’s work has received international acclaim in museums and galleries worldwide for his energetic new approach to painting and pop theory. Following on from early Pop painters such as Richard Hamilton, Roy Lichtenstein and James Rosenquist, Colbert’s paintings cross high art themes from old master paintings and contemporary art theory with everyday symbols of mass contemporary culture, all narrated through the eyes of Colbert’s cartoon Lobster alter ego. He has been championed as a contemporary pop master by art world figures such as Charles Saatchi & Simon de Pury.
This winter, join us for art after dark with a combined ticket to see our major exhibitions – As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic – a compelling exhibition of photographs from African Diasporic culture selected from the Wedge Collection – and Anastasia Samoylova: Adaptation – the first major survey of contemporary American photographer Anastasia Samoylova.
Saatchi Lates take place on selected Fridays. The final Winter Late takes place on 17 January from 6.30PM – 9PM.
Tickets include:
Entry to As We Rise, andAdaptation.
Entry to all current Ground Floor Shows
Bar open to 8:30pm
Drawing classes, workshops and creative activations, with basic materials and guidance from the Learning Team provided, plus special guests!
17 January
Stills to Sculpture: 3D Collage Making Inspired by Anastasia Samoylova’s ‘Landscape Sublime’ series, this workshop follows her method of making 3D collages with landscape pictures. Samoylova cleverly morphs photographs into 3D sculptures, creating kaleidoscopic shapes. This process is intricate and involves folding, cutting and gluing in many different ways, creating new material forms. Workshop participants are encouraged to interpret this in their own way, and bring new life to photographs.
For this workshop, all materials will be provided but visitors are welcome to bring their own along too.
Drop-in Photography Workshop As We Rise and Adaptation are both photography exhibitions which showcase incredible works by some of the world’s best photographers. This workshop is an opportunity for visitors to work alongside experienced photographer Nikol Dehaan, who will introduce participants to accessible photographic techniques and tips to enhance their practice of photography. Visitors will need to bring with them a means with which to take a photograph; mobile phone cameras will be sufficient.
More details coming soon!
About
Presenting the work of award winning portrait and social-documentary photographer Aneesa Dawoojee, March of the Hummingbirds is a compassionate and considered project that documents the rich histories and cultures of the Caribbean, along with Mauritius, whose histories are closely connected. This body of work stems from Dawoojee’s desire to show the power of community spirit and how cultures can crossover through shared values and acts of kindness.
Dawoojee’s strong belief in multiculturalism comes from her Trinidadian and Mauritian parentage. Places where African, Indian, Syrian, Chinese and European people could all be together in one place without judgement. Her home in South London is a similar meeting place of migrant communities who are creating their own fusion of British culture, where everyone has a place.
This project is in memory of all the elders whose ordinary lives were not reflected in textbooks. Inspired by her mother’s story, and extensive time spent in the Caribbean, Dawoojee has been moved to explore the deeper links between the West Indies and the UK, through themes of inter-race relations, indenture, gender, faith, love and feminism.
While she believes that there is no migrant story that comes without some painful recollections, Dawoojee’s photographs emphasises the importance in telling these histories by those who lived them. By sharing each story, she hopes to reduce racial tensions and divisions within modern Britain and to display the power in community.
“My hope is to one day have all this work go into every secondary school in the UK to compliment migrant history, as an alternative way of learning about one another, to encourage empathy (trust) and understanding.” – Aneesa Dawoojee
The majority of works within March of the Hummingbirds were first exhibited at the Royal Photographic Society as part of Only Human: Aneesa Dawoojee and we thank the RPS for their partnership & support of this exhibition.
This exhibition is kindly supported by MPB.
About Aneesa Dawoojee Aneesa Dawoojee is a multi-award winning portrait and social-documentary photographer from South London. Her images aim to break down stereotypes, and celebrate the ordinary people and communities surrounding her.
Dawoojee is an associate lecturer at Northampton University and is a fellow at the Royal Photographic Society. She is the recipient of the RPS Solo International Photography Exhibition 163 Award, (2022) and has been featured in Forbes Woman Africa, BBC and the British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Humanity for three consecutive years since (2021). Her approach to visual communication has culminated in the touring exhibition Only Human, most recently displayed at the Royal Albert Hall, London (2024).
Dawoojee was most recently awarded the ‘Power of Photography Award’ in (2023) by AP magazine for “an outstanding body of work that shines a light on important issues, challenging perceptions and changing the way we see the world” – AP Magazine
About MPB MPB is the largest global platform to buy, sell and trade used photo and video gear. We’ve served more than 625,000 visual storytellers and every year we recirculate more than 570,000 cameras, lenses and accessories. While visual storytelling is our main passion, circularity is at the centre of MPB. We promote sustainability, diversity and inclusion in everything we do.
About RPS The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) is an educational charity with a commitment to bring photography to everyone and as such is a world-leading photographic community, made up of accomplished artists, dedicated academics, hobbyists, and seasoned professionals. Membership is open to everyone.
Founded in 1853, when photography was in its infancy, the objective of the RPS is to make the art and science of photography more widely available. The RPS aims to inspire people through its innovative exhibitions, its award-winning RPS Journal, and recognise photographers in its highly respected awards. The RPS helps photographers create images through its educational programmes, qualifications, and its public initiatives; and it seeks to connect photographers through its UK and international community groups.
About
“Home is a place, a site in which we live… an idea, an imaginary that is imbued with feelings of belonging, desire and intimacy…of violence, fear and alienation” (Home, Blunt & Dowling).
The Walls Between Us, explores the complex notion of ‘home’ through the perspective of 12 artists. Home is a multifaceted and subjective construct. This complexity is summarised by the untranslatable Welsh word ‘Hiraeth’, which combines feelings of nostalgia, a longing for somewhere more than a space and a heart wrenching homesickness towards something or somewhere which is lost forever.
Through this curation, we ask the viewers to question their assumptions of building a home – where is it? Who is it? What makes it good and safe?
The Walls Between Us was curated by SOTA Marketplace, a purpose-led online art gallery and art consultancy built to empower artists and give art back to the people. SOTA’s purpose is to democratise the arts, challenging the inequity of the industry. They currently represent over 800 underrepresented artists internationally.
Exhibiting Artists Agnès Giannaros Charlotte Wainwright Corbin Shaw Eleanor McLean Emmely Elgersma In Casa by Paboy Jiaxi Li Leah Moodie Rithika Pandey Rory Langdon-Down Sumuyya Khader Zena Blackwell
About
Following the artist being named the inaugural winner of M&C Saatchi Group Art for Change Prize in 2022, Saatchi Gallery, M&C Saatchi Group and Tiwani Contemporary are pleased to present a solo exhibition of works by the emerging Nigerian artist Samuel Nnorom.
Nnorom works industriously to weave, roll, assemble, stich and sew together constellations of bubbles, bindles, and ribboned strips, reinterpreting the bubble as a tangible manifestation of collective survival, connection, and aspiration.
Samuel Nnorom’s sculptures are visual metaphors made from offcuts of Ankara fabric, the wax printed cloth now synonymous with African textiles. The production of Ankara has its origins in Indonesia, before the designs were co-opted for commercial use by Dutch merchants during the Dutch colonisation of Indonesia. It was introduced in West and Central Africa through Black soldiers recruited by the Dutch colonial empire for service in the colonial army. In this way, Nnorom’s use of the salvaged fabric forms a critical observation around artisanal provenance, and the impact of global trade on geographical identity.
This exhibition will bring together new works as well as some of Nnorom’s earlier creations.
Samuel Nnorom (b. 1990) is a multi-award-winning Nigerian artist whose work poetically crosses tapestry-like sculpture and pre-loved Ankara wax fabric. Currently living and working in Nsukka, Nnorom holds an MFA in sculpture from the University of Nigeria, UNN Nsuka. He has run numerous workshops and undertaken residencies in England, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Nigeria. Recent solo exhibitions include Emotional Catch, Tiwani Contemporary (Lagos, Nigeria) 2023; Truth and Conspiracy, Primo Marella Gallery (Milan, Italy) 2023; Points of Departure, Galerie Art Mûr 5826 (Canada) 2023; Politics of Clothes, The Mitochondria Gallery (Houston TX, USA) 2023; Politics of Fabrics, an Expository solo exhibition, The Guest Artist Space G.A.S., Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Lagos, Nigeria) 2023. Nnorom is the global prize winner of the Art for Change Prize 2022, organized by M&C Saatchi Group and Saatchi Gallery.
This exhibition is kindly supported by Tiwani Contemporary and M&C Saatchi Group.
About
Abstract painting in London now is a complex mixture of artistic languages, a palimpsest like the city itself. The three generations of artists in Unreal City grapple with abstraction’s past in order to move it into the future, or at least make a vivid present.
Featured artists:
Karolina Albricht
Basil Beattie
Frank Bowling
Lewis Brander
Simon Callery
Haroun Hayward
Anna Liber Lewis
Mali Morris
Lizzie Munn
Selma Parlour
Aimee Parrott
Shaan Syed
Melania Toma
Imogen Wetherell
Gary Wragg
About
The Oulim exhibition will showcase innovative Korean content created through the fusion of technology and culture. It aims to bridge relations between the UK and Korea by generating new content through this convergence. The exhibition offers a creative and immersive experience through the presentation of innovative content that transcends traditional boundaries, allowing visitors to explore cultural spaces in new ways.
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