The Grand Prize
The artist to receive the Grand Prize is selected by the jury of the Biennial, this year composed of Emily Apter, Jaroslaw Lubiak, Ištvan Išt Huzjan and Pablo Larios. The recipient is announced at the opening of the Biennial and is traditionally presented at the next Biennial of Graphic Arts with a solo exhibition.
Hamja Ahsan (b. 1981) is an artist, writer, activist and curator based in London. The founder and co-curator of the DIY Cultures festival of creative activism, zines and independent publishing, Ahsan is the author of the book Shy Radicals: Antisystemic Politics of the Militant Introvert. His recent writing was anthologised in No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990. He was shortlisted for the Liberty Human Rights Award for the Free Talha Ahsan Campaign on US extradition, prison and the War on Terror. He is currently working on a project on the role of zines in the Hillsborough Justice campaign, Britain’s largest known police cover-up. He has been a guest lecturer at various UK and US universities.
A referendum on secession asks the Biennial venues of Ljubljana to join the breakaway Aspergistan Federation: the national homeland of Shy, Introvert and Autistic spectrum peoples as constituted in the book Shy Radicals. From ballot boxes to a national anthem, to social-media hashtags, the Aspergistan Referendum continues Ahsan’s interest in what he calls a “global Introfada struggle against Extrovert-supremacy”. The vibrant civil society of post-socialist, post-Yugoslav Slovenia offers a particularly apt context for an investigation of how introspection, identity and affect collide.
Join the conversation and follow the hashtags #VoteAspergistan.
Join the struggle and post the #ShyPower salute in various venues.
Venues: MGLC, ZVKDS Gallery, DUM Project Space
Photo: Urška Boljkovac. Archive: MGLC.
