New sponsor announced for national contemporary art award

Hamilton marketing agency Bold Horizon has been announced as the new sponsor of the annual National Contemporary Art Award hosted by Waikato Museum.

The award, which has become renowned for the challenging and often thought provoking entries it attracts, will now be known as the Bold Horizon National Contemporary Art Award (formerly the Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Award) and continues to boast a prize of $15,000.

Bold Horizon CEO Wayne Attwell said the opportunity to come on board as sponsor of these awards was really exciting for his expanding agency.

“Bold Horizon’s tagline is ‘we see what others don’t’ and we think this has a close fit with the contemporary art award, where artworks often challenge people to look beyond their own perceptions and to see things from a fresh perspective. Being involved as the major sponsor of an award that is already a leading event on the country’s art calendar is timely as we continue to extend our own presence beyond the Waikato into other regions,” he said.

Waikato Museum director Kate Vusoniwailala said that the announcement of the new sponsor marked the beginning of a new chapter for the award.

“We are delighted to welcome Bold Horizon as the new sponsor for this art award. They are an ideal partner as their values are closely aligned with the values of the award – innovative, forward-thinking and pushing the boundaries,” she said.

The award’s already challenging and thought provoking reputation was further enhanced last year when the winning entry ‘Collateral’ by Auckland conceptual artist Dane Mitchell, which on first impressions appeared to just be a pile of rubbish, sparked public debate, featured in national and international media, and saw Waikato Museum’s visitor numbers soar. However, for Mitchell the type of rubbish was the key as he had arranged for the discarded postal wrappers of the competition entrants to be piled up as a poignant reminder that other people’s hopes and dreams are often invisible and might be cast aside as if they are worthless collateral.

Ms Vusoniwailala also recognised the significant contribution that Trust Waikato had made over many years, supporting Waikato Museum as it developed the contemporary art award from a relatively low profile event for the region to one of the major contemporary art awards in New Zealand.

“The contribution that Trust Waikato has made to these awards over the years has been hugely appreciated and has definitely put our city on the map,” she said.

Those wanting to find out more and remain updated about the national contemporary art awards can do so by joining up online on Facebook (FaceBook.com/NatConArtAward) and Twitter (Twitter.com/NatConArtAward).