The Sovereign Art Foundation
This year marks the 20th anniversary of The Sovereign Asian Art Prize, Asia Pacific’s most coveted award in contemporary art. As well as providing artists with international recognition and generous financial prizes, The Prize is an important charitable endeavour, raising substantial funds to support disadvantaged children by auctioning finalists’ artworks.
To mark the occasion, The Sovereign Art Foundation has engaged a star-studded line up of previous Prize finalists and winners for an ‘anonymous exhibition’ at Art Central from 28-31 March 2024, Central Harbourfront Hong Kong. The project will provide an opportunity for members of the public to purchase original 25 x 25cm artworks by over 80 professional Prize alumni and student artists for a donation of only HK$2,500 each. All artworks will be displayed anonymously and offered on a first-come, first-served basis. The public will be invited to purchase a piece that they love, with the artist’s identities to be revealed only after the works have been purchased. Amongst the artists participating are Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, Debbie Han, and Chui Pui Chee. The show also includes works by several of this year’s finalists. All proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Foundation’s expressive arts programmes for disadvantaged children in Hong Kong.
The Sovereign Art Foundation will hold The 2024 Sovereign Asian Art Prize finalists exhibition and fundraising Gala in May 2024.
About The Sovereign Art Foundation
The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF) is a charitable organisation that was founded in 2003 with a well-defined twin focus: to recognise the growing wealth of contemporary art talent in Asia and bring the proven benefits of expressive arts to disadvantaged children.
In the same year, SAF launched The Sovereign Asian Art Prize, now recognised as the most established and prestigious annual art award in Asia-Pacific. The Prize increases the international exposure of artists in the region, whilst raising funds by auctioning shortlisted artworks and sharing proceeds equally between the participating artists and SAF. SAF uses these proceeds to run and fund programmes that support disadvantaged children using expressive arts.
In 2013, SAF launched Make It Better (MIB), an initiative that supports children from low-income backgrounds and with special educational needs in Hong Kong. MIB works in local schools and community centres to offer children a programme of expressive arts workshops designed to build self-esteem, confidence, self-awareness and interpersonal skills. SAF also supports teachers, social workers and caregivers of these children by introducing them to the therapeutic benefits of art.