The Arkin Award

Arucad - Arkin university for creative arts and design, in an open call to artists, designers, architects and creative minds from all artistic fields and genres, is proud to announce the Arkin Award.
The project is for a site-specific permanent work to be founded in an elevated mountain location overlooking the town of Girne (Kyrenia) and the mediterranean coastline.
The selected project is envisaged as boldly utilising the location in an installation that will permanently receive visitors as a significant local tourist attraction.

The Arkin Award is an international open call for a contemporary three dimensional statue/sculpture/installation of at least 40 metres in height, and which is inspired in some way by notions of the Levant, the Near-East and/or the Mediterranean, and which will represent the spirit of the entirety of the island of Cyprus, its history, culture, ecology, etc., and which will embody the richness of Mediterranean traditions and culture as a source of contemporary creativity symbolised by the figure of the "Noble Peasant". The selected work will be a holistic icon of Cyprus with wide popular appeal and which is intended to become a high-visibility, significant tourist attraction.

The patrons of the award are mindful to afford as much unconstrained creative, technical and artistic freedom to entrants as is feasible and the submitted project may be figurative or abstract, in any suitable medium bearing in mind the outdoor mountainside location.

The location itself is situated on a north/north east facing escarpment of the Kyrenia mountain range, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and the town of Kyrenia. Immediately below the site is the main Nicosia road. Three kilometres to the west is the castle of St. Hilarion and eastwards, the mountain range stretches for one-hundred and fifty kilometres towards the Mediterranean and the Syrian coastline.

Selection criteria

The jury will regard the work of the artists in relation to the following aspects.

• Purpose: The work: is inspired by notions of the Levant, the Near-East and/or the Mediterranean, represents the spirit of the island of Cyprus, its history, culture, ecology, etc., and embodies the richness of Mediterranean traditions and culture as a source of contemporary creativity.
• Technique: The use of media and materials is suitable for the purpose and is appropriate for construction to full-size.
• Feasibility: Within the limits of time, cost and technical feasibility, can the project realistically be accomplished?
• Artistic value: The work displays a unique imagination, creativity and individuality.
• Integration: Aesthetic and technique are integrated into the physical location consistent with the character of the surrounding landscape.

The awarding jury will make an initial selection, choosing 12 or more artists, who will be admitted to the second phase.
The artists who pass the initial selection will be required to send an e-mail with a focused dossier up to a maximum of 20 MB in order to participate in the final selection of the award.
The results of the selections will be announced online on the website.

The proclamation of all the awarded works will take place on 10/01/2019. Any selected entry may be exhibited by the Arkin group in a themed exhibition related to the award.
Transportation and insurance costs (round trip) will be at the expense of the Arkin group. The artists have the rights to the images and to the submitted works but give to the Arkin group, without reservation and without compensation, the rights of reproduction, exhibition, publication, translation and communication to the public, in any manner and without exception.

Call for entries
The works are submitted through the online registration process.

Exhibitions
Themed exhibitions of the selected works will be displayed at the Bowman Gallery, London and at ARUCAD Arkin University of Creative Arts and Design in Cyprus.
The exhibition will consist of models made by the artists or 3D printed models.

Construction
Construction of the selected entry will begin with the work integrated into the physical location consistent with the character of the surrounding landscape.