Artes Mundi 9 artist Prabhakar Pachpute has been awarded The Derek Williams Trust Artes Mundi Purchase Prize.
The award enables a work of art by an Artes Mundi shortlisted artist to be acquired by Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales for its permanent collection of contemporary art. Previous recipients of the award have included Ragnar Kjartansson, Bedwyr Williams, Tanya Bruguera and Anna Boghiguian. Pachpute’s work is currently on display at National Museum Cardiff as part of the UK’s largest biennial international exhibition and art prize – Artes Mundi 9 – which runs until 5 September 2021.
Pachpute has exhibited internationally from São Paulo to Istanbul, from Barcelona to Brisbane, and yet this acquisition marks the first time that work by the Indian artist has been purchased by a museum or institution in the UK as well as a significant milestone in the ongoing development of an internationally significant contemporary art collection for Wales.
Rattling Knot (2020) and The Close Observer (2020) were selected for the award by a jury including Nick Thornton of National Museum Cardiff and Dr. Zoé Whitley of Chisenhale Gallery in London, alongside Artes Mundi. Together, these works form part of Pachpute’s presentation at Artes Mundi 9 and draw on a shared cultural heritage between Welsh and global mining communities including Pachpute’s own familial history, workers in the coal mines of central India for three generations.
Prabhakar Pachpute said: "I am deeply honoured and feel humbled to know about the decision of the Derek Williams Trust Artes Mundi Purchase Prize. The gesture of appreciation is very important for an artist to keep on working. This acknowledgement for my practice comes with more responsibility and it truly means a lot to me. I hope I will grow wiser with it."
