Lene Lekše, photo: Dejan Habicht
On Friday, 14 May 2021, the expert jury announced the winner of this year’s OHO Group Award at the P74 Gallery in Ljubljana. The awarded artist is Lene Lekše. She received the award for her new piece Whistling Strategies.
The members of the expert jury, Polonca Lovšin, Lenka Đorojević and Igor Španjol, wrote the following about this work: “This is a minimalist sound piece. The author is speechless, dealing meticulously and critically with the specific circumstances of work during the pandemic. The piece is courageous, humorous, and critical at the same time. The author’s somewhat risky decision to present a recording of the communication of a group of participating whistleblowers at a distance as an autonomous work paid off and was rewarded.”
This year’s nominees for the OHO Group Award are Jošt Franko, Dalea Kovačec, Lene Lekše and Neja Tomšič. The exhibition of their works will be on view at P74 Gallery from Monday 17 May to 27 May 2021.
Congratulations to the winner and the nominees!
The OHO Group Award is the central national award for contemporary visual art, aimed at young artists up to the age of 40. The award was established by the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute, Ljubljana, in cooperation with the Foundation for Civil Society, New York, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding, New York.
The award winner will receive a two-month art residency on the premises of the Residency Unlimited in New York and a solo exhibition organized by the P74 Gallery in Ljubljana.
The OHO Award is part of the YVAA (Young Visual Artist Award) international network which brings together related national awards from eleven European countries.
Previous winners of the award are: Sašo Sedlaček, Luiza Margan and Miha Presker, Mladen Stropnik, Ana Čigon, Maja Hodošček, Beli Sladoled, Tomaž Furlan, Veli Silver, Staš Kleindienst, Lenka Đorojević and Matej Stupica, Mark Požlep, Simon Hudolin Salči, Tadej Vaukman, Neža Knez, Nika Ham.
The P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute programme is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Department for Culture of the City of Ljubljana. P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute is a member of ASOCIACIJA – Association of non-governmental organizations and independent artists in the field of culture and art.